Sauber Rues Troubled Race

Team boss Peter Sauber rued a troubled race for both his drivers in today's Malaysian Grand Prix, and claimed he was expecting to score more points.

German Nick Heidfeld grabbed his first point of the season after finishing in eighth position with his Petronas-powered car. The Sauber driver, who was running strongly before his first pitstop, stalled his car when trying to rejoin the track, losing a lot of valuable time.

Teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen was hit by a similar problem that affected him both at the start of the race and later during his first pitstop, when he also stalled his car when trying to rejoin the race.

The veteran German, who had finished sixth in Australia, went on to finish in ninth place just outside the points.

"Honestly, we had expected more points today, especially here in front of our partner Petronas and our loyal Malaysian fans," said Sauber. "Unfortunately the race started with Heinz-Harald's problem, and then both engines cut out in the first stops due to fuel evaporation.

"Luckily we were able to solve that for the second stops and to secure eighth and ninth places and another Championship point."