Button leaves Renault with a point.

Jenson Button ended his Renault career with a sixth place finish at Suzuka today and so leaves the manufacturer with a point as he heads to BAR for 2003.

Today, at the final race of the season in Suzuka, Japan, the Mild Seven Renault F1 Team sealed its early season promise of fourth place in the Constructors' Championship.

The team added one point to its Championship standings to finish with a final score of 23, after a strong sixth-place finish from Jenson Button. Unfortunately, the race also saw the retirement of Jarno Trulli on lap 32, due to a mechanical problem.

Button was happy to score at the end of a difficult year. "It's great to get a point for the team and myself," he said. "It has been an up and down season, but has been good for my experience. It has been fun working with the team and I wish them all the best for next year."

Jarno Trulli didn't last the distance. "Unfortunately it has been an unlucky weekend for me here in Suzuka - especially after the car looked so promising after qualifying yesterday. Through the start of the race the car was performing well, with good lap times. Just before my second pit-stop I experienced a mechanical problem. We haven't yet been able to get to the bottom of it yet. Even though I didn't finish the race, I am happy for Jenson, as he drove a good race to get sixth. Jenson has been a good team mate and we have worked well together this season and I wish him well for next year."

Flavio Briatore, Managing Director for Mild Seven Renault F1 Team didn't end 2002 as a winner, so still has much to do to achieve his goals. "It was a good way to conclude this season. We are satisfied because we have fulfilled our objective for this year by securing fourth place in the Constructors
Championship."

"However, we are still too far behind the top teams and we have to work very hard ove the winter to try and close the gap. I would like to thank the whole Team for their dedication and commitment this season, our main partner Japan Tobacco and all our sponsors for their continued support. Special thanks to Jenson, who has done a great job and who will not be with us next season. We sincerely wish him the best of luck and success for his future."

Mike Gascoyne, Technical Director for the team was happy to see points for the third race in a row. "It is good to have a third consecutive point scoring race. We have accomplished our aim of fourth place in the Constructors' Championship, which is testimony to all the hard work everyone at the team has put in. We now have to work hard through the winter testing to start next season on a positive note."

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering for the equipe summed-up the day. "Today was a difficult race dictated by our poor grid positions. In the first stint both drivers reported that the Jordan was holding them up, so we decided to stop early. This worked and got Jarno and Jenson in front of Sato. Unfortunately for us, it appears that he made a few adjustments to his car in the first pit-stop which improved his times."

"We were not able to keep track position after the second stop, this coupled with losing time with the blue flag, meant we weren't able to re-challenge him again later in the race," Symonds continued. "Nevertheless we finished the season in much better shape than last year and finished with three point-scoring races in a row. Now we must look forward to next season and to be able to regularly challenge for podium positions."