Barrichello: race finish no consolation

The Brazilian driver, whose team continued to struggle for pace at Sakhir, finished the race in 13th position, over a lap behind race winner Felipe Massa.

Barrichello said his car was very hard to drive during the race, and is hoping the team can take a step forward before the Spanish Grand Prix in nearly a month's time.

"Well, I finished the race at least but that's very little consolation," said Barrichello. "The track conditions were so blustery and the car driveability was terrible, so it was a really tough race, especially knowing that we couldn't be competitive.

"Now we have to put a disappointing few races behind us and look to what we can do to improve the car. There is a great deal of hard work ahead of us but we will get there, I'm sure."

Teammate Jenson Button's race ended on the first lap after making contact with David Coulthard after the start.

"I got a good start and made up at least three places then at turn 2 Taku (Sato) ran wide, tried to squeeze me and I had nowhere to go so I had to go on the dirt on the inside.

"Then in turn 3 I had Coulthard and someone else fighting around me. DC went wide then cut back sharp and again I had nowhere to go.

"We touched and that spun me round, then the anti-stall didn't cut in, I stalled and that was the end of my race after just three corners. The track conditions out there were very slippery and windy so it will have been a tough race for everyone. Sadly, I wasn't part of it."