Kobayashi sure seventh was possible

Sauber driver Kobayashi had started only 23rd following his fuel system problem right at the start of qualifying. But he managed to make a three-stop strategy work and rose as high as fifth in his first stint.

He felt that the early second stop then required after the collision cost him crucial ground and left him only able to salvage a single point for 10th.

"It was a lot of fun today, I really enjoyed this race," he said. "I found overtaking here a lot easier than last year in Hungary. Before the race I had promised Peter [Sauber] to score points today. It is just one point now because we lost so much time due to a puncture, which was the result of touching Sebastien Buemi when I overtook him. Otherwise I think I could have finished seventh and scored more points.

"The car was great and also the team had a very good strategy for me, so I want to thank them for this. In the end I had to be a bit careful and save the tyres, because the last stint was quite long with 20 laps, but it worked out well."

Sauber's other driver Sergio Perez recovered to 14th after breaking his front wing when he hit Pastor Maldonado's Williams on the opening lap.

"We had a good pace today and I clearly had a chance to score my first points," said the Mexican. "It is a real shame what happened on the first lap. Pastor Maldonado was braking quite hard in front of me and I couldn't avoid hitting him. I broke my front wing and had to pit. Apart from that I found it quite difficult to manage the tyres - both compounds actually - but the car was really good."