Schumacher rues missing out on points

Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher narrowly missed out on tenth-place after losing a fierce battle with Daniel Ricciardo towards the end of the Japanese Grand Prix.

We also post reactions from drivers from Mercedes, Caterham, Marussia and HRT.

MERCEDES:
Michael Schumacher: "I have mixed feelings after the race here in Japan, because it's obviously unfortunate to come so close to scoring points and not manage it, after a race which went better than we expected. In the final laps, I had a nice and interesting battle with Ricciardo, but in the end I couldn't get past him because the Toro Rosso was so quick on the straights. That's why we have to say we couldn't have got much more out of it today. Now let's see how things go in Korea."

Nico Rosberg: "I had a good start to the race but unfortunately it ended fairly quickly today. In the first corner Grosjean spun into Webber and that also led to my accident. I began to brake but Senna crashed into me from behind which destroyed my rear tyre and meant that I had to retire. It's a shame as I felt very comfortable with my car on the installation lap, and I was confident that we could score some decent points. I'll now hope for a better weekend in Korea."

CATERHAM:
Heikki Kovalainen: "I had a fantastic start, avoided all the problems in turn one and passed Glock as soon as the safety car came out. I was running really well in 11th until the first set of stops and in that first stint the car felt great. I was keeping the pack behind me and tyre wear on the softs was good. We went onto the hard tyres for the second stint and, again, wear rates were excellent. We were even thinking about doing a one stop race but towards the end of the stint they started to go off so we came in with ten laps left and from there it was all about making sure we got to the flag without any problems."

Vitaly Petrov: "At the start I had to avoid the problems in front but got through that ok and pretty quickly settled into a good rhythm. My first stop was fine but after that we lost KERS and that obviously cost me time. I also had a problem with the radio and couldn't hear the blue flag calls and that ended up with the drive-through penalty. From where I started on the grid and with the KERS issue I think I probably got as much as I could out of the car today. It's been a bit of tough weekend but it's good to see the team working so hard to keep pushing us forwards and next week in Korea we have another chance to keep fighting."

MARUSSIA:
Timo Glock: "I'm very happy to say it was a good race for us today. The start was quite a shock when I saw all the cars flying across the track. Heikki came through it quite well but I was right behind him and I was able to overtake him in the Esses. I was up to P11 but I knew that would be short-lived because we were struggling a bit with traction out of the last corner and obviously they have KERS and we don't. Heikki got past and I continued to lose quite a lot of time in that corner afterwards - three or four tenths each lap into turn 1 and the Esses - which allowed the other guys - who also have KERS - to pass me. In general though we had good pace and were quite consistent. The behaviour of the tyre to the car was very good and we were able to stay out quite long. The first pitstop was very strong - the fourth quickest team of the race - so a great job by the crew as they work so hard on that every day. I had good pace on the prime tyre and was going well, but at last pit stop I was a little long in the box having misjudged the grip, so my mistake and sorry for that. I was then able to close the gap to Heikki so our strategy was spot-on. We were as close as four seconds at one stage but the blue flags opened the gap again. Still, eight seconds away at the end was pretty good! We have to be happy I think. We fought well, the car was a lot of fun to drive and it's great to have a consistent car again. We continue to have better pace in the race, so we will keep working hard on our overall performance and enjoying this very positive final phase of the season."

Charles Pic: "Obviously it is disappointing for me to have to retire as we were coming back strong at that point in the race. It is also the first retirement for a while. The start was difficult as we had to avoid the trouble at the first corner, then on the first stint I was struggling for grip with the Hard tyre. This improved when I switched to the Soft tyre for the second stint. My race was going well and I was behind Timo and ahead of Vitaly and Pedro. Unfortunately I misjudged the pit box on my second stop, going quite long, and lost a lot of time. Shortly afterwards I had to stop due to a problem with the engine. Overall it has been a good weekend and I have enjoyed my first experience of this amazing technical circuit. I look forward to another new circuit for me next weekend and a better result."

HRT:
Pedro de la Rosa: "Today's race was quite good and we could say we've taken a step forward, although we still have plenty to do. The first stint was good but we had a problem in the first pitstop which made me lose quite a lot of time. My times with the hard tyres towards the end were very good and we were right in there. The car was handling well and we got close to Pic and Petrov, which for us, at a track like this, is fantastic."

Narain Karthikeyan: "I had a good start and passed Pic on the first lap. The car was working well, it had good pace, and after the first pitstop I was ahead of Pedro and completing a good race. However, we suffered a problem with the car later and, coming in for a second tyre change, the team decided that, as a precautionary measure, it was best to stop. Now it's time to think about Korea and work to take another step forward."

Di Matteo pleased with Chelsea resolve

The European champions made it 19 points from 21 this season - their best start since 2006 - as they put the John Terry and Ashley Cole saga out of their minds for 90 minutes at Stamford Bridge, and moved four points top of the Barclays Premier League in the process.

Chelsea have had plenty of experience playing amid off-field controversy during Terry and Cole's time at the club - but rarely when both have been at the centre of it.

That was exactly what they had to do on Saturday after the damning verdict of an independent Football Association regulatory commission on Terry's racist abuse case and Cole's subsequent foul-mouthed Twitter outburst.

Di Matteo said: "I think the results are telling us that we are able to blank things out surrounding us externally and that we could focus on what is our aim and target and job, to win football games.

"It's proven how professional the group is and how well they respond to it."

The Italian denied a siege mentality had taken hold at Stamford Bridge, where Terry and Cole were predictably feted as heroes.

"No, I don't think so," he said.

"That's not what we feel or what is happening with us.

"We concentrate on our strength and we try to win games with the players that we have and with a football philosophy that we're aiming to play.

"At the moment, the team is a healthy form, we are creating lots of chances, we are scoring lots of goals, and with different goalscorers as well.

"We don't rely on just one player, so it's a team that is in good shape."

Asked whether his players saw football as a "release", he added: "I don't know but it seems that, at the moment, they are enjoying playing football.

"It's what they love doing and they are also lucky people to be able to do this as a job.

"We can only try to continue to keep this momentum and form going for ourselves and I think that will help everybody involved going forward."

Di Matteo refused to get carried away with Chelsea's start, despite it being their second best ever in the Premier League.

"We're pleased that we're going into this international break at the top of the Barclays Premier League," he said.

"We've only played 10 games and have so many more games to play but we're in a good position and have a lot of confidence.

"As long as we don't have many injuries, we'll keep chipping away and try to win as many games and points as we can.

"I still think Manchester City - if you look at their squad - and Manchester United will be up there."

Chelsea ultimately rolled over a poor Norwich side, who took the lead but were 3-1 down 20 minutes later, looking every inch a team that had not won a league game this season.

Canaries boss Chris Hughton, who was certain the Blues would be "right up there" in the title mix, said: "I was probably more annoyed and disappointed at half-time than I was at the end of the gamebecause, after taking the lead, we certainly needed to be in the game for longer. "When you come here, particularly with the quality that they have got - the offensive quality they've got now - you know it's going to be a tough ask.

"But, when you score so early, you need to stay in the game longer.

"At the moment, as a team, we're not defending well enough."

Hughton was satisfied with the attacking threat of his players and, despite Norwich now having the worst goal difference in the table of -12, was adamant his squad was strong enough to avoid the drop.

"Yes I am," he said.

"We're on the back of two very poor games for us.

"We were guilty in the four games before that of playing well enough to win games but not being clinical enough.

"It's important that everybody pulls in the right direction to get back to, perhaps, the form we showed before the Liverpool game."

Gul's blinder strangles South African chokers

COLOMBO: It was a familiar sorry story forSouth Africa as they wilted under Umar Gul's blast to hand Pakistan a two-wicket win in a Super Eights Group 2 match of the ICC World Twenty20 here, on Friday.

Chasing a modest 133-6, Pakistan were floundering on 76-7 in the 15th over, before Gul walked in and played a blinder, striking three sixes and two fours in his 17-ball 32 to gain Pakistan their first points in the stage of eights, with two balls to spare.

An indifferent top-order performance had left Pakistan needing 58 from the last five overs, just three wickets in hand, before Gul's stunning display of aggression turned things around.Umar Akmal (43*) watched admiringly from the other end as 16 came from Kallis's 16th over (including two humungous Gul sixes) and 20 from Albie Morkel's 17th over. 

The equation came down to 15 needed from the last two overs. Steyn conceded six in the 19th and picked up the menacing Gul, who struck him sweetly to Peterson at sweeper cover, leaving the task at 9 runs needed from Morne Morkel's last over of the innings. 

Morkel began with a dot ball, but the second was pulled ferociously by Umar Akmal for six. Three off four, and then two off three. Surely Pakistan couldn't have done a South Africa from here? New manSaeed Ajmal's outside edge, which went racing for four, didn't allow them a chance to mess up.

Spare a thought for the Proteas bowlers. Steyn conceded 22 in four, Peterson 15 in as many (also picking up two wickets), Duminy five runs in two overs, and Botha ten in two. But after pegging Pakistan back for over three-quarters of the chase, they had no answer to Gul's blast. 

South Africa slump to spinThe Proteas had earlier hinged their fortunes around JP Duminy's 48 in the face of some tight spin bowling from Pakistan's four tweakers. Electing to bat on what was being branded a 'flat and dusty' pitch, perfect for setting a target - or so the Proteas would have believed - the batting team plummeted to 28-3 in 6.1 overs, a situation rendered nigh inescapable by the spin of Hasan Raza, Mohammad Hafeez, Ajmal and Shahid Afridi. 

Left-arm spinner Raza, in the side for Sohail Tanvir, opened the bowling and had Richard Levi dropped by Kamran Akmal. Hashim Amla was first out, deceived by a slower Yasir Arafat slower delivery that he mistimed to cover. Jacques Kallis played out a maiden to Raza but looked good to see his team through a tough phase when he lofted a soaring straight six off Raza.

The next two overs drove South Africa into teh ground. Saeed Ajmal bowled a a wicket maiden in the sixth - bowling Levi through his legs as he went for an ungainly reverse sweep. Hafeez brought himself on in the seventh over and nailed Kallis, as South Africa fell to 28-3. Behardien struck boundaries off Afridi and Ajmal before he gave Hafeez the charge and was stumped.

Duminy played the lone hand and added 44 in under 5 overs with de Villiers. The southpaw stepped out to Hafeez to score the first six of the match and pusnihsed Ajmal when the offie had a rare error in length. de Villers kept up the momentum using his feet to the spinners, before razing Umar Gul over cow corner in the 18th over. On the next ball, the imperious South African struck a full-toss straight to Imran Nazir at sweeper cover.

A six and a wicket in Gul's over, and another six and a wicket in Arafat's 19th - Duminy searing one over long-on, before swinging and edging to Akmal behind the stumps to be out for 48. South Africa ended on 133-6 and very few at that point would have believed that it would be this close, or rather that South Africa would come so close only to freeze - as is their wont - at the doorstep of victory.

Pakistan stutter

Umar Akmal: The shot that sealed it.Pakistan made a terrific start to what they would have presumed to be a straightforward chase. Mohammad Hafeez took a brace of fours to get things moving off Steyn's first over, and Imran Nazir followed up with two of his own as Morne Morkel came into the attack. Pakistan were cruising on 24 without loss in the third over when Nazir, who appeared hellbent on frittering away the advantage with low-percentage shots, gloved Steyn to AB de Villiers.

Robin Peterson came up next and the left-arm spinner took out two in his first over - both victims stumped after a rush of blood to the head. Hafeez, having greeted Peterson with a six first ball, walked down the wicket and was stumped by one that bounced and turned away. Much was expected of the dangerous leftie Nasir Jamshed, but he imitated his skip to the T, marching out, going for a wild hoick, missing the ball, and being stumped by de Villiers.

Peterson's sensational first over left Pakistan teeteriung on 31-3 in four oves, and Johan Botha's wicket maiden sent them another jolt in the direction of imminent disaster. Botha pushed in a quicker one to bowl Kamran Akmal as the batsman went for the cut. Peterson was turning it square at the other end, and at 55-4 in 10 overs the asking rate had begun it's steady ascent.

Shoaib Malik was unable to get going, facing 26 balls for his 12, before guiding Steyn into Kallis' hands at third man. Shahid Afridi scored a golden duck, trying to smash Duminy out of the park only to be caught at the boundary. Pakistan lost their seventh wicket when Yasir Arafat was taken off a short ball by Duminy at mid-wicket, leaving the team 76-7 after 15 overs, 58 needed from the last five. A situation to which Gul's assault was perfectly