Jaguar encouraged by point

Jaguar team principal Niki Lauda believes that the team's first top six finish since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in March is just reward for his team's efforts during the season. Eddie Irvine brought his car home sixth after starting from a season's-best eighth on the grid

"A very impressive all-round performance, " said Lauda. "We have been encouraged all weekend by the performance of the Jaguar R3 and combined with great support from Michelin, the package has rewarded us with a championship point.

"Given the strength of the top three teams and the challenges of the circuit, it's just reward for the very hard work that is going into this programme by everyone back in Milton Keynes. We have three races left on the calendar and we aim to take full advantage from what we have learned this weekend."

Pedro de la Rosa also ran competitively until a suspension failure pitched his car off the track. Fortunately, the Spaniard brought his car under control without any more damage being done.

"With six laps to go until the end, I felt the rear of the car snap with what appears to be a rear suspension failure, " said a disappointed de la Rosa. "The team scoring a point is the main thing to take away from the weekend and we will now look at taking this further over the next three races. "