Ferrari pays for poor qualifying

Michael Schumacher finished third, after spending the early part of the race stuck behind the Renault of Jarno Trulli, a product of his fifth position in qualifying. Rubens Barrichello, meanwhile, was left to come home a disappointed eighth after starting from seventh on the grid.

"Our performance in yesterday's qualifying cost us the chance of a better result in his afternoon's race," said Brawn. "In the first stint, Michael was stuck behind Trulli and therefore lost precious time compared with the leaders. Our chosen strategy was a good one, the car worked well and the pit stops were carried out in their usual slick way. We did all we could."

Schumacher said that he was pleased with his third position, given his starting slot. "To go from fifth on the grid to third on the podium in Monaco is quite good," he said. "I could say that I might have been able to finish higher if I had not been stuck behind Trulli in the early stages, but our strategy was to go for a long first stint and that meant having more fuel, which is why I was behind him."

Barrichello was understandably downcast with eighth. "I don't have much to say at the end of a race which can only be described as disappointing," he said. "Any time I was able to push to the maximum, I came up behind traffic and so I never managed to get the best out of the car, which had great potential."