Bourdais: safe, 'lucky' and annoyed

The Newman/Haas Racing driver said: "We actually got lucky, not just from the safety point of view, but because Justin Wilson had a mechanical problem with his car, and so he didn't make up too much on me in the points."

Regarding the accident that involved Bourdais, Forsythe Championship Racing's Paul Tracy and Bruno Junqueira, he said: "I don't remember everything, but I have seen the replay.

"Oriol [Servia] made a great start, no question, got up into P2, but had to go onto the dirt on the outside, which is where I was too.

"That kicked all the dust up in front of me, and I couldn't see where I was going, so I made a mistake too, so I lost a bit of momentum coming out of the corner.

"So Bruno and I are driving along and start coming in towards each other, because we're trying to take the line for the corner, and neither of us had any idea that Paul was there. His left front made contact with my right rear, and he went up in the air and landed on top of me.

"My head was knocked from side to side on the side rest, and I must have lost consciousness, because the next thing I remember was being stopped on the grass and the safety team running towards me."

Discussing the points system, in which he has scored four wins and a third place but is now only 26 points ahead of Justin Wilson who has scored four second places and a fifth place, he said: "Well, it's a points system that rewards consistency and getting to the finish.

"That's what I was trying to do today. But when PT starts fifth, there's no safe place to be at the front of the grid.

"He should know that keeping his nose in that gap until it was too late to back off is a potential disaster. That's what's pissing me off."