Sauber slams 'weak' showing

Giancarlo Fisichella finished just out of the points in ninth place, despite the fact he expected to at least repeat his fifth position he scored at Silverstone.

"I got blocked quite a lot at the start so was not able to make the progress I needed to with our two-stop strategy, and then in my second stop we weren't able to change the left rear tyre," said Fisichella. "The wheel was stuck on, so I had to go back into the race with the same left rear.

"I also lost time coming into the pits for that stop, because Nick Heidfeld was going very slowly as he also came into the pit road. Usually we have a tyre advantage in race conditions with Bridgestone, but unfortunately today the performance with Michelin was very equal."

Sauber said: "We came to Hockenheim feeling quite confident after our excellent result at Silverstone, so what we were able to show today was weak and hugely disappointing. We have some time now before the next race, in Hungary, to analyse the less positive aspects of our race today."

The second car, of Felipe Massa, finished back in 13th.

"I made a reasonable start but got held up a little when Button ran wide and came back on in front of me," said Massa. "My first and third sets of tyres were okay, but the second was horrible.

"I really have no idea why, but they made the car very difficult to drive and blistered very badly. It was very easy to make mistakes at that time. The car was unstable, especially under braking, and I was having a real struggle."