Panis scores on 150th GP

Frenchman Olivier Panis scored Toyota's best result of the season in the United States Grand Prix on Sunday, finishing in fifth position from eighth on the grid

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."