Ralf: We could have fought for win

But the Williams team had their BMW-powered cars on intermediate wet/dry settings which proved a handicap when the rain failed to return.

And like his brother Michael Schumacher, Ralf was stunned by Mika Hakkinen's race pace on the drying track.

"I am more than happy with this result because the team was strong all weekend and I had problems close to the end that made me worried I would not finish at all," he said.

"We thought we would be among the fastest but Mika was just outstanding."

"We believed we could come close today and the rain conditions gave is a good chance but Mika was just so fast it was not possible."

The consolation, he said, was that they had established themselves as the third best team in Formula One.

The German racer finished on the podium for the second time this season as a double helping of points build them a 12-point lead over nearest rivals Benetton who had another miserable weekend.

"We are definitely third team in the world championship and our target must be to try to stay there and get some more points and podium finishes."

His only real race dilemma was a fuel pick-up problem which almost stalled the car five laps from the start."

McLaren have 125 points in the teams title chase, Ferrari 117, Williams 30, Benetton 18 and Jordan 13.