Pleased Sato enjoys difficult race

The Japanese driver, starting from the back of the grid, benefited from the safety car period to run as high as ninth, something he admitted felt very good after all the problems the team have endured to race in Spain.

Sato eventually dropped down to 13th place, but the Super Aguri driver admitted he had enjoyed his race.

"It was a hard race, but I enjoyed it," said Sato. "The start was reasonably good and I overtook a few cars. Ahead of me a few cars had a coming together and I could not avoid them and lost part of the nose, which then obviously affected my aero balance.

"The team said that the car looked okay, so we just fought our way through the rest of the race. At one stage we were up in the middle, running as high as ninth, and that was a fantastic feeling.

"The boys did a great job under difficult circumstances this weekend. I am very happy for them and all the people who are supporting us and I just hope that we can keep this momentum going."

Anthony Davidson was not so lucky in the race, the British driver having to retire when gravel damaged his car's radiator.

"It was a disappointing end to the weekend for me. After Piquet ran wide at the beginning of the race he dragged a lot of gravel on to the track and a stone from that then damaged my water radiator, putting me out of the race.

"I got a good start and felt comfortable in the car up to that point, so it is a shame to have retired so early, but I'd like to thank everyone in the team for their hard work and determination this weekend."