Sauber admits need for speed

Fisichella finished 11th despite being punted into a spin by an erratic Ralf Schumacher while Massa struggled with a balance problem throughout the race which left the Brazilian desperate for grip.

"As great a venue and event as the first Bahrain Grand Prix undoubtedly was, unfortunately this was not our race," said team principal Peter Sauber. "We have to work on the performance side, and on improving our speed during out laps after pit stops."

Fisichella was disappointed not to have been in the scramble for points late in the race as Montoya faded with a hydraulic problem, but the Italian was plagued with myriad issues of his own. "At the beginning my car felt fine, but after the first stop it developed huge understeer, and later it felt like the engine lost power a little," he said. "I also had problems in my last two stops when I called for first gear but each time got second.

"And, of course, [Ralf] Schumacher spun me on lap 31. Without these problems, especially Ralf, I think we could have challenged for a point today."

Massa was in trouble right from the start. "I lost a bit of ground in the first corner because things got very tight, and in the first part of the race I was really struggling for grip and had a big vibration, possibly from the tyres," he said. "The car felt very unstable. It was a lot better on the last set but, overall, this was a very tough race for us."