Villeneuve says BAR should have done better

The 1997 world champion says the team made a massive error which cost his team mate Olivier Panis third place on the podium and BAR's first ever finish in the top three. Instead they had to settle for fourth.

The team suffered because of a problem with their radio system. Panis radioed he was coming in and arrived to find Villeneuve's car sitting in front of the garage - costing him a minute and a half, and allowing Sauber's Nick Heidfeld to go through.

"It is good that we have got points for the team, but the team should also be disappointed," said the Canadian, who finished seventh. "Olivier should have been on the podium, but there was a misunderstanding in the pits which cost us very dear. It is disappointing because both cars were really strong."

He added: "My race was very hard. There was some type of problem with the tyres, a puncture or something and the car started bouncing a lot so I had to come in early.

"When I did that the differential broke, so I had two wheels completely independent making the car difficult to drive. Also when I came in for wet tyres, they were not ready for me. I was surprised at that because that has happened before in Malaysia."