Sauber nets double points haul

Heidfeld finished fourth and Massa fifth after they took full advantage of the high rate of attrition in Barcelona.

"The strategy was perfect today, and so were the pit stops," said team principal Peter Sauber. "Nick drove another strong, smooth and mature race, while Felipe was aggressive when he needed to be but cool under pressure. I'm delighted that we are back in joint fourth place with Renault in the world championship"

Heidfeld said: "This has been a really good weekend. As we did last year, we just keep improving the car, so I'm very happy. I enjoyed fighting with the Renaults. We have shown competitive speed all year, and now we have the points we deserve to go with it."

Massa, who celebrated his 21st birthday this weekend, was delighted with his second points finish in five grand prix starts.

"I'm taking things step-by-step and others have more experience than me, but today everything was really good," he said. "I lost a bit of efficiency with my tyres when I was running behind [Jenson] Button, but I knew it was difficult for anyone to overtake here so I just made sure that I didn't lose my concentration when Frentzen closed up. This was a fabulous race for me."