Williams Lick Wounds after Disappointing Race

The Williams team endured a disappointing Bahrain Grand Prix that saw them slipping further behind rivals Ferrari in both championships after Michael Schumacher dominated the race from start to finish.

Ralf Schumacher, Michael's younger brother, was seventh after an action-packed race for the German driver. The Williams driver, however, said there was still reason to be positive.

"After all that happened in my race I would define my final position as limitation of damages. I'm glad to get the two points but of course it's a bit irritating because I could have made it up on the podium," said Ralf who collided with Sato on lap seven.

The impact, with Sato's front wheel catching Ralf's rear as they fought for fifth place, pitched the German off and he had to fight back from 17th.

"The collision with Sato was an unfortunate race incident, from my point of view, however, he was a bit optimistic in thinking to get back the position he had simply just lost," he said.

"All in all, I am not too disappointed because I have seen from the data that I was running close to Ferrari's pace, whenever I had free track ahead. This leaves some room for hope."

Colombian teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, who had been third for most of the race, was lapped and limped across the line 13th after his Williams slowed in the closing stages on a disappointing afternoon for the BMW-powered team.

"It's clear that we are not quick enough to match Ferrari, at the moment, but today we were the quickest on Michelin tyres and this is very important for us," said Montoya, who parked his car right after crossing the finish line.

"Maybe I went for the wrong tyres, as they didn't prove as quick in the race as I was expecting but still I had a good pace and would have come third, if I hadn't had a gearbox problem with about 10 laps to go.

"I first lost the seventh gear and then a few more gears and then I eventually lost all drive. There was nothing else to do but try to finish the race which is why I continued and ultimately it was disappointing, of course, because I couldn't even finish in the points."