Renault hindered by fuel rig problems

Both Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella were forced to complete an extra pitstop after not enough fuel went onboard during the second stops.

Despite that, Kovalainen managed to finish in seventh position for his best result in Formula One yet. Fisichella finished down in ninth place.

"Our race today was severely compromised by problems with our refuelling," said director of engineering Pat Symonds. "The problems occurred on both cars, and with both fuel rigs in various combinations, which is more than mere coincidence. We are currently investigating the source of those problems.

"With Heikki, he ended up with a very light fuel load after his first and second stops, meaning we had to convert our strategy to make three stops and run short stints in the middle of the race.

"For Giancarlo, the problem occurred on his second and supposedly final stop, which meant we simply had to stop before the fuel ran out, and were unable to optimise his strategy.

"To salvage two points from such a challenging afternoon is a bonus, but at the same time, we are all extremely disappointed."

Despite their problems, Symonds was encouraged by the step forward taken by the team this weekend following a difficult start to the season.

"Moving on from the problems, though, our relative competitiveness shows we have made a small step forward, as our qualifying performance had suggested," he said. "We know that we should have been fighting closer behind the leading group this afternoon, and that is a small consolation."