Monteiro laments 'stupid mistake'

The Spyker MF1 driver failed to set a time in the opening session, meaning he will start from the back of grid, after spinning and stalling his car right at the start.

"The day didn't start very well with a two thousand dollar fine for crossing the pitlane exit," Monteiro said. "When I got out of the car the president of Spyker, Victor Muller told me that if I made it to the second session that he would cover it.

"Unfortunately I made one of the most stupid mistakes of my F1 career, obviously I was pushing hard as it was qualifying but I hit the curb on high speed corner 7 and spun the car causing it to stall.

"It's really frustrating as Christijan was only tree tenths off P16 so I think we could have made it."

Teammate Christijan Albers completed a poor day for the team, qualifying in 18th position.