Renault drivers lament qualifying woes

Kovalainen started the race from 11th place at a track where overtaking is very difficult.

From there, the Finn only managed to climb up to eighth position to score one point.

"It was a difficult race today starting from eleventh place on the grid," said Kovalainen. "But I never gave up and I pushed as hard as I could and succeeded in finishing in the points. I made a good start and I tried to be as consistent as possible and I didn't make any mistakes.

"It would have been difficult for me to do better today. I'm still disappointed after yesterday's qualifying but we did our maximum as I've already said. Now we have to concentrate on the Turkish Grand Prix in three weeks time."

Teammate Fisichella, penalised after qualifying for an incident with Sakon Yamamoto, was unable to fight for a points finish after having been dropped to 13th place on the grid.

The Italian went on to finish in 12th.

"My race was more or less decided by yesterday's penalty that I still believe I didn't deserve," he said. "I made a good start but it was difficult to maintain a good rhythm as I was stuck in traffic throughout the event. When I was able to have a few clear laps I was on the pace.

"After my 2nd stop I tagged Davidson and my car was damaged, so it was difficult to drive. I'm disappointed with today's result, which isn't very good for the team.

"It doesn't reflect our true level of performance and we have the potential to do better. Hopefully, we'll be back near the front in Istanbul."