Fernando Alonso is not letting his second retirement of the season get to him, confident that Ferrari can still win the World title.
The Spaniard could do nothing but watch as his 29-point lead in the Drivers' Championship was cut to just four in Japan as he was booted into retirement.
Fighting with Kimi Raikkonen for track position at the start, the duo touched resulting in a rear puncture for Alonso that put him in the gravel and out of the race.
In sharp contrast, his main rival Sebastian Vettel claimed a dominant victory as he closed right up in the standings.
"It was very disappointing, but now it's history and there's no point brooding over it anymore," Alonso told Ferrari's website.
"As I said before I left the track, now we start again from zero, given that only four points separate me and Vettel and even the others have got a little bit closer.
"The winner will be the one who scores one point more than the rest.
"In order to do that, one needs a quick car, not to make any mistakes and with the hope that any further mistakes from others do not cost you dear, as happened to us, first in Spa and then in Suzuka.
"But for these incidents, the situation would be very different."
The double World Champion added that he has complete confidence that Ferrari can do the job as he chases his first Drivers' Championship with the Italian stable.
"I am sure we can be in the fight right down to the wire.
"The people who are working on the car are the same who have done the job so far and there's no reason to think they can't do a good job again now.
"Let's not forget that, if I am still leading the Championship, it's because we have been capable of improving the car significantly compared to the start of the season and also because we are capable of always getting the most out of what we have to work with.
"We have not been gifted anything, indeed Spa and Suzuka deprived us of places that were easily within our grasp.
"It's not through some sort of divine miracle that we are in this position, it is down to the work of all us, from first to last.
"Formula 1 is a team sport: you win and you lose together."
