Vettel happy to finish race

Vettel, replacing Scott Speed at the team, finished down in 16th position after what the German admitted was a long race.

"It felt like a long race, but the main thing is that I finished," said Vettel. "It was not easy, as over a race distance, the car changes a lot and you have to adapt, which is not easy when you don't know the car.

"The team did a very good job, helping me where they could. I had quite a good start. I found it quite exciting and overall, it was a good weekend, considering Friday was the first time I drove the car."

Teammate Tonio Liuzzi suffered yet another retirement, going out of the race on lap 43 when he was hit by a car problem. It was the Italian's seventh DNF in 11 races.

"My race was going okay, apart from the fact that our strategy choice meant that when I was stuck behind Massa, running slower with a heavier fuel load, it was costing me time," he said."During the first stop, we sorted it out, changing my strategy and it could have gone better from then on as I had a good pace.

"Unfortunately, I had an electronic problem. For at least three laps, I was very slow down the straights and I could feel a lack of power. We tried to go ahead and to keep pushing, but it became obvious I would not be able to finish the race as I was going about three seconds a lap slower.

"We have to try and improve our reliability so that I can finish some more races before the end of the season. Maybe we should book a trip to Lourdes!"