Heidfeld delighted with points finish

"I am extremely happy with today," said Heidfeld, who finished in seventh place, gaining eight places following a troubled qualifying on Saturday.

"Before the race not everyone was optimistic, but you should never give up. It could have turned out completely differently, but we were lucky with the circumstances and also made the most of what we had.

"At the start I gained four positions, but then I slowed as I thought I had damaged the car. It turned out I just used the tyres too hard, especially the rears. I pitted earlier than planned and after the safety car I just looked after the rear tyres.

"I was not sure about getting points here, but in Monaco the most important thing is not to make mistakes and that way you can get the car to the finish," added the German, who has scored points in two consecutive races after finishing eighth in Spain.

His teammate Jacques Villeneuve did not enjoy a good day, the Canadian finishing down in 14th position after being hit with a drive-through penalty for overtaking while the Safety Car was on track.

"The start itself was not very good as my clutch was slipping, but the first corner went well and I caught Jenson Button," explained Villeneuve. "Then I tried to save the brakes a bit. Half way through the race I had to let the leaders by and David Coulthard also overtook me.

"This made me drive off the racing line, I got dirt on my tyres and they were gone so we decided to make an early pitstop. Unfortunately this didn't work very well because shortly after that the safety car came out. After all that I got a drive through penalty so it was not a good day for me."