Lotus praises Kovalainen drive

A hydraulic power pack problem meant Trulli's Lotus T127 couldn't make the start, but Kovalainen raced to 13th, just three places away from a World Championship point.

Kovalianen said: "I enjoyed it today and had good fun out there. Our target was to finish the race and from the start we were quite comfortably ahead of the new teams. When [Virgin's Timo] Glock dropped out I just focused on keeping up a decent rhythm, not making any mistakes and bringing the car home.

"Now we go to Malaysia with a good feeling and we're all looking forward to that."

Team boss Tony Fernandes praised the Finn's performance. He said: "I'm disappointed for Jarno, but Heikki did us proud - three places away from a point, and he was keeping pace with most of the other cars throughout the race.

"Maybe it would have been nice if three other cars had gone out so we could get a point, but, joking aside, it is good that at this stage of the season we're already thinking about points. We're in a nice position for Malaysia."