Sato apologises to Fisichella for shunt

Sato ploughed into the back of Fisichella at Turn 2 on the second lap of the race, removing the Italian's rear wing and damaging the front of his own EJ12.

"I am really sorry about what happened with Giancarlo," said Sato. "I apologise very much, it shouldn't have happened. I saw a Toyota pushing him going into the first corner and then into Turn 2 they were side by side with me right behind them. Unfortunately I moved across and went into the back of Giancarlo.

"Obviously I am very happy to have finished the race in the top 10, but this is marred by the fact that I damaged my team mate's chances of scoring points. I apologised to him immediately after the race and he took it extremely well which I think says a lot about his good character," he added.

Fisichella, who was taken out of the 1997 Argentinian Grand Prix by his then team-mate Ralf Schumacher when he last drove for Jordan, accepted the apology.

"There is no denying that Takuma made a mistake by hitting me and that this damaged our chances of scoring points," he said. "Anyway, he clearly feels pretty bad about it and he came to apologise immediately after the race. There is no point dwelling on it - I think he has learned a lesson."