Fisichella encouraged by performance

"It was a difficult race with the very hot conditions, but overall I think it was a good performance," said the Italian, whose team raced their new seamless shift gearbox this weekend.

Fisichella, like other drivers, was relying on a safety car period to get a better result.

"The strategy wasn't bad, but we did expect a safety car after seeing the other support races, but there weren't any incidents so it didn't come," he said.

"Our pace was good, it wasn't far off the others, and we made a step forward with the gearbox. We now have to keep focussed and keep moving forward."

Teammate Adrian Sutil retired from the race on lap 42 when he lost control of his car and ended up hitting the tyre barriers.

"The first stint was OK as I was closing the gap to the rest of the field and then I could pass a few cars in the hairpin," Sutil said. "It was a shame that I couldn't pass Giancarlo quickly enough to take full advantage of the two-stop strategy and lost a little time.

"Once I passed him it was getting better but it was still difficult to pass more cars. Then under braking I lost the rear and tried to avoid a crash, but the barrier was too close and that was it."