Panis scores on 150th GP

Panis, who started his 150th grand prix at Indianapolis, briefly ran in the top three, but slipped behind Renault's Jarno Trulli and a charging Takuma Sato of BAR. Nevertheless, he was pleased with his second points haul of the season.

"It was my 150th grand prix and I got a fantastic present of four points," he said. "I am very happy. The team gave me a consistent and competitive car and I drove a good race. We profited from all the hard work we have put in this weekend.

"I pushed so hard towards the end and it was the perfect end to a strong weekend to finish just 37-seconds from the race winner. We need to keep going on in this direction because the top six is where we should be finishing every race."

Team-mate Cristiano da Matta didn't fair so well, however. After a first corner collision, he suffered with gearbox problems throughout and would eventually retire as a result.

"I got a good start but coming into Turn 2 I was hit from behind by another car," said da Matta. "After that, I had to come into the pits, but the accident also resulted in me not being able to select first gear. In the end, I got stuck in gear and I had to stop. The problem with the gears was only caused by the collision and that ended my race far too early."