Benetton's better day

Although Fisichella has finished in the points in two of the first three races his Austrian teammate has yet to get to the top six this season.

Fisichella's fifth place was his third points finish at Monte Carlo in succession following his runners-up spot last year and sixth in 1997.

'On this circuit I had hoped to finish higher than fifth place,' said the Italian, now equal fifth in the championship with Ralf Schumacher on seven points.. 'But after such a hard race on such a difficult circuit I am pretty happy with the result.

'In the first races in this season I have been in the points three times out of four and this really underlines the reliability of our team. We know where we need to focus to maximise performance so I am optimistic for the rest of the championship.'

Wurz, after his first point of the young Austrian's campaign, said: 'I didn't have a great start as I lost position to Alex Zanardi. He was really slow and held me up for quite a few laps, but then he made a mistake and I was able to overtake him.'

'I am happy with sixth place and overall it is a great result for the team as both Giancarlo and I finished in the points.'