Wilson delighted with first GP finish

The team coped with an oil tank problem on Wilson's car before the start and then he narrowly missed Antonio Pizzonia's stationary Jaguar on the grid.

"We haven't got launch control so it was just a manual start," Wilson explained, "and the back stepped out a bit as I went around the Jaguar and I just missed Pizzonia. That lost me a lot of momentum going down to the first corner and Jos (Verstappen) was able to get past."

Wilson, however, then drove a stunning first lap, capitalising on a second corner coming-together between Jarno Trulli and David Coulthard, to cross the line in eighth place at the end of the opening lap.

Explaining how he did it, Wilson said: "I pulled left to brake at my normal place into Turn 1 where I knew there was grip. There were cars sliding around and dust flying everywhere and I went though the first right-left and saw cars crashing at the next corner. I just managed to go around the outside, then cut to the inside and passed one of the Jordans. At the next corner I went around the outside of a Sauber. I just seemed to be able to drive past them. It was certainly an enjoyable first lap!"

Wilson again had minor problems with his Head And Neck Support (HANS) device, but nothing compared with his troubles in Malaysia.

"The belt was holding it a bit too tight and I was obviously starting to work hard at the wheel and it was just pushing into the back of my neck a little, so I slackened the belts a bit.

"I'm happy though because we knew this would be difficult because it was high downforce and we know that's one of our weakest areas, but in Austria if we can just keep working at it and get the corner entry and traction control working well, it should be fine."