Salo 'should have been on the podium'

Before the disqualification was known and he was deprived of sixth place he had insisted: "I should have been on the podium."

The flying Finn, who picked up the last points place, said: "The car felt fantastic.

"With a little more luck and a little less traffic I know I could easily have finished third today.

"I am happy with my point but I feel a little disappointed because we could have finished with much more.

"Jacques Villeneuve held me up early on, costing me a full second a lap and then I had a similar time stuck behind Ricardo Zonta.

"Once I passed him I took a second off Giancarlo Fisichella and Jacques Villeneuve in one lap."

Sauber team-mate Pedro Diniz was forced out of the race on lap 43 with tranmission problems.

Earlier, the 29-year-old Brazilian had to make an unscheduled pit-stop to change his car's damaged nose after being squeezed onto the gravel on the second lap.

Diniz said: "With the new nose, the car felt much better and my times were competitive until the transmission problem ended my race."

The solitary point was a huge boost for the team, who only managed a total of five all last season.

And team boss Peter Sauber declared: "Of course I am happy with the point, but Mika deserved much more today.

"He lost a lot of time behind other drivers. But if we are slightly disappointed with the result we can take heart from the potential of the new car."