Fisichella Happy with First Points

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella was happy after scoring his first points of the 2004 season at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Roman driver secured two points for Sauber by coming home in seventh position after a race in which he battled with Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya for position before the Colombian retired with a mechanical problem.

"My car was very good all the way through, and when we were running together I was much quicker than Montoya," said Fisichella. "I don't know whether he had a problem, but I could keep ahead of him quite easily. The only problem I had was in lapped traffic, when I lost some time.

"Without that maybe we could even have had the sixth place. But I am happy. We made progress at Imola and we made some more here. If we keep doing that we will just get stronger still."

Fisichella's points helped Sauber move to sixth place in the Constructors' Championship, just two points behind McLaren.

Brazilian Felipe Massa, Fisichella's teammate, finished in ninth place.

"I flat-spotted my front tyres in Turn 10 in the first stint, trying to pass somebody, and that gave me a lot of vibration and understeer," explained Massa. "I could see Giancarlo, but he was going away from me. I changed the front wings slightly in my first stop, and on fresh rubber the car was fine for the rest of the race.

"It felt great to beat the McLarens and without that initial problem I really think I could have been in the points. I'm very pleased for Giancarlo and the team that he scored some."