Stoddart slams lazy Bruni

As it was, team-mate Baumgartner, who has been outperformed by Bruni so far this season, finished the 73-lap race to pick up a point following the late retirement of Sauber's Giancarlo Fisichella.

It was the team's first point since Mark Webber's two at the Australian GP in 2002 but team boss Stoddart said Bruni could have and should have collected the point for himself.

"The difference between our two drivers is that Zsolt finishes races," he told Autosport. "If you never bring the car home you're never going to score. Zsolt listens to what the car says and he is a worker. Gimmi was unlucky today, but the car did not need to be switched off, it was fully capable of continuing.

"If he had carried on he would have been fighting for that point, so the biggest loser is Gimmi. No-one more than him will know that he could have taken that point."

It is not the first time Stoddart believes Bruni has retired unnecessary and the Australian admitted the team would be talking to him about it.

"That is something the team has to discuss with him, but it is not the first time that the car could have continued this year."

Meanwhile, following his maiden F1 point, Baumgartner and his manager Tamas Frank are seeking a better drive for the Hungarian next year.

"We'd definitely like to keep him in F1 next season," said Frank. "Everything tends to be decided at the last minute. We of course hope he can progress to a higher-level team."