Kobayashi sorry to miss out on points

The Toyota driver had a remarkable grand prix debut, running as high as third, before dropping down the order to finish in 11th position.

Kobayashi admitted it had been a difficult day for him, and left lamenting having missed the chance to score.

"It was a tough race for me," said the Japanese driver. "As this was my Grand Prix debut I experienced a lot of things for the first time in Formula 1 so it was a learning experience. Physically it felt like a really long race and it was quite tough.

"My first target was to finish the race and I am pleased to achieve that, but after the start I was in a decent position to score points so I am a little disappointed I didn't.

"The car felt good in the first stint but when I changed tyres the balance felt a different and I was struggling a bit; probably this was just down to experience.

"It was my first race so there are several areas to improve but overall I am happy with how I have performed this weekend and I would like to thank the team for all its support."

Team-mate Jarno Trulli insisted he was angry after retiring from the race due to an incident with Adrian Sutil.

"I am extremely frustrated by what happened today because I had a very good chance to challenge for the podium," Trulli said. "On the first lap (Adrian) Sutil was very slow through turn four because he was fighting with (Kimi) Raikkonen. He was on the inside so I took the outside line but he kept pushing me wider and wider.

"In the end I was on the grass and had no control of the car so I crashed into the wall at high speed. I think there was enough space for both of us to get around the corner."