Monteiro regrets wrong tyre choice

"This has been another tough weekend for me," he admitted after finishing down in 14th position, as the last classified driver.

"Christijan and I were on different tyres, which we knew could be a risk, and it ended up being the wrong choice, unfortunately.

"That was the main issue for me in the race. I'd get two or three good laps out of each new set, and then the performance would just fall away.

"The balance was quite decent, actually; it was just a general lack of grip. But that's the way it goes some weekends - you gamble and take your chances."

Monteiro's race was also compromised by a drive-through penalty for ignoring blue flags.

Teammate Christijan Albers finished in 13th place, the Dutchman enjoying the on-track battles.

"I think we had a reasonably good race result," he said. "We were competitive against Toro Rosso, and it was nice to fight with Speed.

"Sometimes he would close the door on me and I had to lift to avoid an accident, but when I passed him I was quite happy because it's nice to see that we've gained some ground against them - it's nice to be in competition."