Sato happy to bring car home

The Japanese driver finished in 14th position five laps down in the chaotic race after surviving a gearbox problem in the Honda-powered SA06.

"I am happy that we finished a very hard race, not only because of the weather conditions today, but also because of the gearbox problem I had.

"During the first stage we were looking good and I was actually pulling away from the Midlands, which was very encouraging.

"But after the pitstop I had a clutch problem and almost lost all drive - at one stage I thought that I would not be able to finish the race. Fortunately I was able to solve the problem by changing the setting from the cockpit, but I later had a gearbox problem and lost a gear which meant that it became incredibly tough to drive the car towards the end.

"I am pleased that we were able to bring the car home and finish the race as it is very important for the team to have this data before the summer break."

Teammate Sakon Yamamoto failed to complete a single lap for the second race in succession after stalling his car at the start of the event.

"The weekend started quite well and I was looking forward to starting the race from the grid. I made a reasonable start off the line and tried to overtake a few cars in front of me at turn one, but the engine stalled and my race was over.

"It is a very disappointing end to the weekend again for me, but I think that we made good progress with the SA06 here in Hungary. On the positive side, I think that Honda's win is fantastic and I would like to send my congratulations to them as part of our family."