Sutil sorry to miss out on points finish

"It was a tough race for everybody, with a lot of water on the track and long periods behind the safety car," said the Spyker driver, who was running in eighth until he was overtaken by Tonio Liuzzi with few laps remaining.

"In very difficult circumstances I think we made some good decisions and in the end we had the right balance and set up on the car.

"We could do a lot of fighting, changing positions quite a lot, and we were so close to getting that first point, but finally we ended up in P9. All the same it's a success for us as we were 14th in Spa and now 9th, so we are getting there. In special weather conditions such as these today I think we are very strong."

Sutil's teammate Sakon Yamamoto, 12th today, was happy to finish his home race, which the Japanese described as the hardest of his career.

"This was a really hard race, probably the toughest I have ever had, because the weather conditions made it really difficult to drive at any kind of speed, even behind the safety car, and when you were following somebody you couldn't even see 20m in front of you," he said.

"I think we also should think of the Japanese fans as they were watching right to the end when it was so cold and wet!

"I was so pleased that I could finish my home Grand Prix in front of so many people and now I want to finish the next race with an even better result. Also thanks to all the team members as they really supported me today."

The point scored by Toro Rosso's Liuzzi means Spyker are the only team yet to score this year.