British GP: Spyker race notes

The Etihad Aldar Spyker Formula One Team has finished its first-ever 'home' Grand Prix in Silverstone, Great Britain, with Christijan Albers in 15th position. In front of a passionate partisan crowd, Christijan completed a solid run to move up seven places on his starting position. Unfortunately Adrian Sutil retired from his first British Grand Prix on lap 17 with an engine failure.

In a mark of the team's improving performance, Adrian and Christijan were able to stay with the pack, with Christijan fighting the Super Aguris throughout the race. The team now goes to the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium for a three-day test from 10 - 12 July in advance of the next round of the FIA Formula One World Championship in Germany.

Adrian Sutil:

"It's frustrating that I could only do 17 laps before I had to retire with an engine problem. The car was not bad, although I think everybody struggled in the first laps as the tyres were cooling down from the second formation lap. But after two laps the pace was not too bad, it's just disappointing that I had to give up after 17 laps. If you are close to the cars in front you just want to race them, but hopefully we have better luck in the next race as we really need to finish."

Christijan Albers:

"I enjoyed the race quite a lot as we could drive with the field. I had no problems to drive the car, there was quite a reasonable balance in the performance but it was a shame that in the end I lost the position to Sato. But I think I had a good race and am happy to finish. The team can now go to the test in Spa with a good rhythm."

Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer:

"Of course it's disappointing not to get two cars to the finish but, overall, once again we were a little bit more competitive with the group of cars in front. Unfortunately Adrian had an engine failure, but Christijan had a very steady drive to compete with the Super Aguris for most of the race, although in the end we just lacked a little bit of speed to finish in front of them. A solid performance from Christijan and it's just unfortunate for Adrian that he couldn't make it to the finish. We'll look forward to the new car in Turkey."

Colin Kolles, team principal and managing director:

"Once again today we showed we are making small steps to close the gap to the midfield. It's disappointing not to get a double finish, but we have a test in Spa next week where we can work as a team on these issues."

Adrian Sutil
Chassis: F8-VII/03
DNF: Engine (16 laps)
Fastest lap: 1:25.015

Christijan Albers
Chassis: F8-VII/04
15th: 1:22:16.191 (+2 laps)
Fastest lap: 1:24.390

-credit: spyker