No Birthday Present for Monteiro

Monteiro, who was celebrating his 29th birthday today, completed the Hockenheim race to continue with his perfect record of finishes in the 2005 season.

The Portuguese driver's race, however, was eventful after he was involved in two accidents. In the end he finished in 17th place, three laps down.

"Today's race was not the kind of gift I was expecting for my birthday," said Monteiro. "What is important for us is that, again, we managed to finish the race, although it was a tough one.

"I had a good start but then somebody touched me and pushed me off the track and I lost one or two positions. Therefore I ended up last. I was then able to push very hard, as the balance of the car was much better than we have had the whole weekend.

"I think our lap times were not too bad as well. I had a very good in and out lap in my first pit stop and that's why I have managed to pass Narain and Albers. I was very happy with the car until I had a racing incident with Villeneuve. It is a pity but I would like to thank everyone for another finish and look forward to the next one."

Monteiro's teammate Narain Karthikeyan also completed the race, but it was still a disappointing day for Jordan, who saw their main rivals Minardi finishing in front of them thanks to Christijan Albers' 13th place.

Karthikeyan was down in 16th position.

"I am happy to finish the race as I have had some technical problems in the last two races," he said. "I did not have very good start but I managed to pass Monteiro. The first 15 laps went OK and then I blistered my rear tyres, after which my car was too much on the edge.

"I also got a drive through penalty but I do not understand as I never saw the blue flag for Heidfeld. I had a quick spin near the end as well so I am quite satisfied I finished the race."