Fisichella Pleased with Fifth Straight Points Finish

Italian driver Giancarlo Fisichella was pleased after finishing in the points at today's Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

"For me it was an excellent race," said Fisichella, who finished in eighth position for his Sauber team.

"The car was really good, and my only problem came on lap 16 when I ran off the road briefly in the Spoon Curve. There was a sensor problem with the fuel alarm and I was just radioing the pits for a report; unfortunately I left my braking a little bit too late as I lost concentration, but I recovered quite well.

"The best I could have hoped for without that was seventh, so I'm happy. It was great to push hard all the way and do lots of overtaking. A point today was our target, and we achieved that."

It was Fisichella's fifth consecutive point-scoring finish of the season as Sauber secured sixth place in the Constructors' Championship.

The Italian driver's teammate Felipe Massa finished in ninth place after charging back from the bottom of the field after he failed to set a time in qualifying this morning.

"I wasn't very happy with myself after my mistake in qualifying, but I think I made up for that in the race today," said Massa. "It was fantastic. I really enjoyed myself. I was able to push hard right from the start and I did a lot of overtaking.

"I pulled some really good moves, so it was really, really satisfying."