Sutil sad after missed opportunity

The German looked set for seventh place after a risky strategy was paying off, but he lost control of his car with six laps to go, going off track and crashing heavily against the barriers.

Sutil admitted the situation reminded him of last year's Monaco Grand Prix, where he was set to finish in fourth before he was involved in a crash with Kimi Raikkonen.

"I had prepared myself for a hard race and that's exactly what it was," said Sutil. "We took a risk with the strategy with a very early stop and it was a long way to go with one set of tyres. Then it started to rain again and it was very hard to keep the car on the circuit.

"Sometimes even in a straight line in fourth or fifth gear I was struggling with aquaplaning and I was very lucky to keep the car on the circuit for so long.

"It's a shame - you focus so much and think you can do it, but the car was just out of control at the end. I had the same feeling as Monaco - it's hard to believe when you are in the car and then suddenly you lose it and it's all over from such a great position.

"But you have to get over it, we had a great performance today. It's good for the team and I think we deserved the points, I just feel bad for everyone here. It was a very good strategy call, but that's what we had to do: take a risk."

Team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella finished down in 14th position, the Italian complaining about the graining on his tyres.

"It was a difficult race," said Fisichella. "The rain was really hard at the beginning, but my main problem was the graining on the tyres. With both sets we had a lot of wear and the car was sliding on four wheels through some corners. It was very hard just to keep the car on the ground and many times I had a huge moment.

"The strategy was good though and I think we can be pleased with the performance today. It's a disappointment that Adrian came so close to scoring the team's first points today, but we all know how hard it was out there."