Button earns final point

The Briton was massively disappointed not to have made more of his car's potential in qualifying, where he went off the road at Campsa, but made up for it with another quality effort in the race to maintain his third position in the drivers' championship.

"I didn't get a very good start then I was a little disappointed with the first stint because it just wasn't possible to overtake," said Button. "I really struggled to be honest. I lost so much time in the high-speed corners because when you're so close to the other cars you lose a lot of downforce."

"We had good straightline speed so we thought we would be able to overtake them in the straights, but I had no chance; overtaking is so difficult here. Considering where I started, I am pleased to have been able to salvage a point. I'm really looking forward to Monaco though. I think we'll have a good package there and hopefully we can translate that into a good result."

Takuma Sato finished fifth as he struggled to stay on the pace of the Renaults. "I made a good start and it was very exciting to be so close to the front of the grid," said the Japanese driver. "I was amazed by Trulli's start though - I don't know how they did that! Obviously I'm a little disappointed that we started from third and finished fifth, but both Jenson and I really struggled with consistency after each tyre change.

We did our best and we have achieved some valuable points for the team. It was a tough race though. I'm looking forward to Monaco now. We are testing in Paul Ricard next week in preparation and I think we can be optimistic of another good result next race."