Sauber drivers hit out at rough tactics

Heidfeld was hit twice by Jaguar's Justin Wilson at the first corner, which pushed him wide and almost on to the grass, while Heinz-Harald Frentzen was clipped by a spinning Ralf Schumacher (Williams), which might have contributed to his retirement from what could be his last grand prix.

"The start was good, but between Turns 1 and 2 Wilson hit me a few times and consequently pushed me into the dirt," said Heidfeld. "I lost some places, which was annoying. After that I was able to catch up lap by lap. Unfortunately I finished only ninth and couldn't score points, so sadly we couldn't defend our fifth place in the constructors' championship. We dropped a position, but BAR was simply too strong today."

His team-mate, who also loses his seat next year, was equally disgruntled.

"It's a shame that I couldn't finish my race," said Frentzen. "Ralf Schumacher hit the rear of my car quite hard so I had to go to the pits, where we discovered that oil was leaking from a damaged cooler. Later the engine broke, so that was it."