Webber Hindered by Barrichello's Pace

The Australian, fresh from his fourth placed finish in Japan, found himself stuck behind Barrichello after the second Safety Car period - and had a struggle to get past the slow Ferrari.

By the time he did sneak through it was too late for him to do anything about the sixth-placed Sauber of Felipe Massa finishing ahead of him.

"It is not really the end that we would have liked to have had to the season because the car was stronger today than the result," said Michael. "Anyway, that's it for the 2005 season.

"Now we're looking forward to returning to our winning form next year. With Mark's race strategy we should have been further up if we hadn't been held off for so long by Barrichello."

Webber expressed his frustration at the race - both the Barrichello incident and the two Safety Car periods.

"It has been quite a frustrating Grand Prix I don't think many drivers enjoyed it," he said. "The safety cars destroyed the race for many of us but that's the way it goes sometimes.

"It was a shame I could not get Barrichello earlier. He had absolutely no speed in the corners but good top speed so I could not attack him on the straight."

Teammate Antonio Pizzonia had an even more disappointing time, as he retired on the final lap of the race with a puncture while he was running 11th. He was eventually classified 13th.

"It was a difficult race for me," said the Brazilian. "It was a very hard decision for the team to take both Mark and myself in for our pit-stops when the second safety car came out.

"We took a risk and unfortunately it didn't go our way, but this is racing. Track conditions changed a lot throughout the race and that made everything more difficult. Also, we lacked speed on the straight which is vital for over-taking.

"We couldn't finish this season as we had wished but in general I think for me this was again a very good experience which enabled me to learn another new circuit."