Sutil disconsolate after stunning drive

The German driver was forced to retire with damage to the rear-end of his car following the collision with the Ferrari driver that occurred under braking for the chicane after the final safety car period.

Raikkonen appeared to brake earlier than normal in an attempt to be cautious, but may have run over a damp patch that pitched his Ferrari into a series of wild slides.

The world champion damaged his nosecone in the incident, but returned to the race after pitting to finish ninth and set the fastest lap.

"It's a really a shame, we were really close," Sutil told UK broadcaster ITV. "Then Kimi crashed into my rear and destroyed my whole race. It was the best race of my whole career and it is really a shame - I can't say any more about it. I am so really disappointed."

Sutil started 18th on the grid, but moved steadily through the field as several more favoured drivers, including Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso hit the barriers in the difficult wet weather conditions.

The Force India driver forced his way into the points positions by lap 15 and seemed set for a secure fourth-placed finish when the Safety Car was called out with 20 minutes to go, to clear the debris from Nico Rosberg's accident at the Swimming Pool complex.

"I knew that in the race we had a chance," said an emotional Sutil afterwards. "I knew from my performance last year that I am really strong here and after the first lap in the race I knew I liked the conditions and I was catching cars.

"I took it easy, just to try not to go off or something then when I got the chance I really pushed. I did fastest laps in the race and it was great, I was really doing good.

"It's just so disappointing that in the last few laps all my work was over."

Sutil's reputation as a strong wet weather driver was cemented by his performance in a wet free practice at Monaco in 2007, when he set the fastest time of all in a Spyker.

He was also eighth fastest in the rain affected Saturday morning free practice session and had showed during the race that he could run easily in the points on pace alone.

Sutil and the team's chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne paid a visit to the stewards' office after the race to to explain their side of the accident.