Sutil boosted despite Monaco heartbreak

The Force India driver, who has scored only one point in 22 starts, was running in fourth place after a stunning drive on the streets of Monte Carlo.

With seven minutes of the race left, however, Sutil was hit by Kimi Raikkonen, who had lost control of his car at the exit of the tunnel. The accident damaged the rear suspension of Sutil's car and the German had to retire.

But despite the pain of seeing his hopes of a great result vanish, Sutil admitted he was encouraged by his performance.

"For sure, yeah," Sutil said when asked if his confidence had been boosted. "This was an amazing race for myself and it was a big boost. It was like last year, but this one was even better. I had so many laps, I was racing other cars and doing fastest laps. It was one of my best races.

"Still, it was a big boost and a very good boost for me. I started the season with some problems. The last races went better and better, especially here in Monaco - my favourite track.

"Everyone was perfect. Qualifying was not that great but better than the last races - and the race was just fantastic."

Sutil said Raikkonen had apologised and the German was sure it was just a racing accident.

"He apologised, so he is a great sportsman," Sutil added. "He is a very good driver and I have to accept it. It was not done on purpose and it can happen to everybody. I have to live with it and just go on to the next race.

"It was not like he was braking too late and crashing into my car. He lost the car, the conditions were very tricky so we cannot say he made a mistake. He just lost the car."

The Force India driver confessed, however, that he was really hurting after such a good race.

"It was just incredible. And you cannot believe it. You think it is just a bad dream that you are in - but it is reality and it really hurts," he added.

And Sutil is under no illusions about the upcoming races, which he reckons will be as hard as usual if they take place in the dry.

"These were special conditions," he said of Monaco. "I think it will be very difficult again in normal conditions in the dry - we don't have a chance at the moment and we need to find some updates to improve the car.

"That is where we have to concentrate on. Just try to forget this race. There were many positive things, go on with our work and try to get to the front."