France satisfied with performance

Nicolas Lapierre could only score four points at the Dutch circuit for his third place in the sprint race, but he and team boss Jean-Paul Driot believe they would have won the feature race without their gearbox problems.

"We are very disappointed with the result of the feature race, but we are satisfied with how our car has performed this weekend," said Driot.

Changeable weather conditions in the feature race meant the majority of cars made at least two pitstops to change tyres, and Driot was happy that his team made the right calls.

"We had a good strategy and always stopped at the right time," he said. "When we changed back to slicks it was one lap before (race winners) Germany , and this lap could have meant a lot."

Lapierre added: "We had the best car and the right strategy, so it's a pity because we would have had a good chance to win this race. When I started to lose the gears the car became impossible to drive."

Driot's DAMS team proved it is still capable of winning races, as South Africa took the sprint race honours.