Barrichello praises BGP 001's strength

The Brazilian was involved in a multi-car first corner tangle and later hit Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari, but recovered to fourth and then inherited second when Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel collided.

"It's strong - very strong," said Barrichello of the Brawn car. "I have been hit from behind, I hit someone in front...

"I never thought I could finish on the podium after the start, I hit anti-stall and recovered quickly, then I was hit from behind by a McLaren and that put me sideways and I hit someone really hard

"I thought the car was done for after that crash but it survived quite well. But in my first stint my nose was falling apart and I lost the braking stability when I hit Kimi. He closed the door and I couldn't avoid him."

Barrichello joked that the accidents removed any potential advantage from Brawn's controversial diffuser.

"If people think our car is only good because of the diffuser, that big hit broke the diffuser completely, so the car was strong," he said.

Although he had hoped for victory after being faster than his ultimately victorious team-mate Jenson Button for much of practice and in Q1 and Q2, Barrichello said he was still content with second in the circumstances.

"I had a lot of mixed emotions and it was fantastic," he said. "I started second and I hoped for one better but I am delighted to be here after the start."