Bonus point for Sauber

Massa made an excellent start to get ahead of his team-mate and the pair staged a race-long duel, which became a battle for points after Juan Pablo Montoya and David Coulthard retired.

"I made a brilliant start, and made my race by the first corner," said Massa. "The car was really good and our strategy worked well for us. My only problem was that I had a big vibration on my second set of tyres and that made it easy to make mistakes. I made a couple but I recovered each time without losing any places. Nick pushed me hard but I felt quite comfortable. After Brazil's success in the World Cup on Friday, this point is another great bonus this weekend for me!"

Massa's point moves Sauber three points ahead of Jordan in fifth place in the constructors' standings and Peter Sauber saluted the performances of his drivers.

"This was a very important point for us, as it is our first at the Nurburgring. Furthermore, it's one that we took from Renault," he said. "It was really hard to earn because normally a two-stop strategy is quicker, but the only way we could fight Renault this afternoon was to do a one-stop race and it worked well. Both Felipe and Nick drove strong races, and were free to race each other throughout. Thanks to them, and to the team, for a good race."