Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber will take on the unique challenge of the Suzuka International Race Course. The only figure-of-eight track on the calendar, the historical venue of the Japanese Grand Prix is a circuit that drivers love, and is the highlight of a race weekend in which teams are showered with love by the passionate local fans.

Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative: "The team remains strong after some difficult races: we don't let our heads drop, because we know we can turn this situation around. We head to Japan aiming to turn the page after a couple of difficult races and capitalise on the encouraging pace showed during the previous events to finally get where our potential warrants. Work has been going on day and night back at base in Hinwil to resolve our pit stop issues; as a positive, we had the performance to be ahead of our direct competitors in Melbourne, as we did in previous races, and that's what we'll be building on this week. On top of that, we're also bringing some updates, the fruit of the hard work of our team back home, which will hopefully allow us to make another step forward and claim our first points of the season."

Valtteri Bottas: "It's always great to race in Suzuka - it's one of the most iconic tracks on the calendar, and my personal favourite. I have some great memories of racing here - a win and many other good performances. It's not just on track - the passion of the fans is unmatched, and you are even more keen to put up a good show for them. It surely gives you a lot of extra motivation for the weekend. Looking back to Australia, it is never nice to come back empty handed from a race, especially as we were showing some real potential there and we could have scored some good points. In any case, that is in the past now, and we have a new opportunity to get back on our feet this weekend, especially as our race pace had been really encouraging. We are all aware of the work that is going on behind the scenes to resolve our pit stop issues and we will hopefully see results soon. We are also set to bring new upgrades here, so I'm very much looking forward to being back on track and making a bigger step forward."

Zhou Guanyu: "As a driver, Suzuka is one of the best tracks to race on - and I'm happy to be here. It's my third time racing on this historic circuit, and you cannot avoid thinking about the great races that took place here, the championship deciders, the big moments you watched on TV as a child. The crowd is also very special: the support and the dedication of the fans on the grandstands and outside the paddock is something that not just the drivers feel, but also all team members. I want to have a good race here: Melbourne didn't go as expected for us, but we regrouped as a team, and we are now motivated to bounce back. We know we still have work to do, on and off track, but, as an important positive, the race pace we showed in Australia looked quite competitive, and I'm keen on working on extracting the most out of our car again. If we manage to place ourselves in favourable spots on the grid, and achieve a clean start, we have a chance to charge through and aim for points."