Kanaan: I didn't Lift Off

Kanaan appeared to have a strong run to take the win from the Scotsman on the final corner of the 400-mile race and looked as if he would take the lead. However he suddenly fell back, allowing Franchitti to win by 0.111 of a second.

Television footage from inside Kanaan's car appeared to back up the theory that the Brazilian had eased off the throttle at the crucial moment, however Kanaan refuted such claims, saying he made a mistake and pressed a wrong button on his car.

"You can only believe what I say," Kanaan said. "What can I say? People make mistakes."

"It was a shame. I really don't know what happened. Either I missed a shift or I pressed the wrong button. They reckon I pressed the pitlane speed limit instead of the overtake. I'm not very happy about that.

"My teammate, Dario, won the race, so it's not that bad. I finished second in the championship. It's not bad either.

"There's two buttons. Obviously, the overtake and the pit lane. Basically you press the pit lane. It cuts immediately the engine to be able to bring you down to speed, to 60 miles an hour.

"The overtake is supposed to move you forward. It had happened in Watkins Glen as well in my out-lap. That's how it works. Basically, when you press it, it cuts the engine.

"I'm trying to pass the guy, I'm going ahead of the guy. Obviously, I can't get into details on the overtake because that's a Honda thing. You have many seconds' worth of the overtake. That does something to the engine, it can't hold for a full lap.

"It's either 10 to 15 seconds. You wait until the last minute to do that, to be able to pick up more power and win the race."