Suzuka International Circuit – 53 laps – 5.807km – 18 corners

Starting position: P3
Race result: P3 (Medium -> Hard)
Fastest lap: 1m31.039 (lap 53)

Oscar becomes only the 7th driver to have got a podium on his birthday with the last time being Rubens Barrichello back in 2004.

The weekend through OP’s visor

Quali…

“It’s good to get both cars up there in the top three today. I felt good through much of Qualifying, and especially at the start of Q3 but that last lap didn’t quite come together as I wanted, so there was a little bit left on the table. We said coming into the season that there were going to be incredibly tight margins and today proved that.

It’s all to play for tomorrow and we’ve got a great car. We don’t know what the weather’s going to do, but we’ve been quick on both dry and wet tracks already this year, so we should be up there fighting for the win. Let’s see what we can do.”

The race…

“A good haul of points and a nice result for the team. I think the pace today was really good and I was very happy with that. We got close for the overtake a few times, but track position around here is just so important. I think yesterday was the day where you effectively won the race, and we just didn’t put it all together, so I’ll absolutely take the podium. We go to Bahrain with a lot of positives, and ready to challenge again.”