Fisichella Blames Michelin Strength for Missed Points

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella blamed the performance of his rivals' Michelin tyres for failing to achieve a better result at today's German Grand Prix.

"Usually we have a tyre advantage in race conditions with Bridgestone, but unfortunately today the performance with Michelin was very equal," said the Sauber driver, who in the last race in England had climbed from the back of the grid to sixth place.

"I got blocked quite a lot at the start so was not able to make the progress I needed to with our two-stop strategy, and then in my second stop we weren't able to change the left rear tyre. The wheel was stuck on, so I had to go back into the race with the same left rear.

"I also lost time coming into the pits for that stop, because Nick Heidfeld was going very slowly as he also came into the pit road."

Fisichella finished just outside the points in ninth place, with Brazilian teammate Felipe Massa also failing to score any points after struggling to come home in 13th.

"I made a reasonable start but got held up a little when Button ran wide and came back on in front of me," said Massa. "My first and third sets of tyres were okay, but the second was horrible. I really have no idea why, but they made the car very difficult to drive and blistered very badly.

"It was very easy to make mistakes at that time. The car was unstable, especially under braking, and I was having a real struggle."