Fisichella Celebrates 'Wonderful' Result

Sauber's Giancarlo Fisichella was delighted after scoring points for the second time this season with a sixth place at the European Grand Prix.

The Italian driver had to battle from the back of the grid after he was penalised for changing his engine following the first free practice session on Friday. Fisichella, however, charged back and was able to score three points for his sixth position.

It was the second time he had scored this year, having finished in seventh place at the Spanish Grand Prix earlier this month.

"After all the problems I had over the weekend it is wonderful to score points for sixth place," said Fisichella. "Our target was to score points, but I never believed that sixth was possible. The car was fantastic today, the balance and behaviour were impeccable.

"I made a good start, our strategy was perfect, and we did a great job as a team. The C23 is improving with every race, so we will keep getting better and better."

Brazilian teammate Felipe Massa was disappointed after missing out on a points finish. The young Sauber driver was almost stuck at the start of the race and had to fight his way back only to finish in ninth place.

"When I let out the clutch at the start nothing happened, and I had to call for it again before I could get going," explained Massa. "Running behind the Minardis after that ruined my race because I lost so much time.

"I'm not sure where I damaged my front wing â€" maybe when I was close to Bruni, maybe later with Klien â€" but after that I just had massive understeer and the car was really difficult to drive. A shame, because this was a race where I could have scored more points."