Spanish GP: Sauber race notes

Nick Heidfeld and Felipe Massa finished fourth and fifth respectively in today's Spanish Grand Prix, making Team Sauber Petronas the only team to bring both its cars home in the points.

Nick Heidfeld:

"This has been a really good weekend. As we did last year we just keep improving the car, so I'm very happy. I made a good start, the pit stops were fine, and I enjoyed fighting with the Renaults. We have shown competitive speed all year, and now we have the points we deserve to go with it. That was a really strong race, the car had no technical problems at all, and the set-up was fine and consistent. A great weekend."

Felipe Massa:

"It feels amazing to finish fifth in only my fifth Grand Prix! I'm taking things step-by-step and others have more experience than me, but today everything was really good. I made a good start and on my first set of tyres the car was fine. I lost a bit of efficiency with my tyres when I was running behind Button, but I knew it was difficult for anyone to overtake here so I just made sure that I didn't lose my concentration when Frentzen closed up. I thought I had passed Button at one stage, but then I looked over and realised he was still there on the outside. I managed it later, though, and after that I could keep Frentzen at bay, no problem. This was a fabulous race for me, and a great way to celebrate my 21st birthday weekend!"

Peter Sauber (Team Principal):

"The strategy was perfect today, and so were the pit stops. Nick drove another strong, smooth and mature race, while Felipe was aggressive when he needed to be but cool under pressure. I'm delighted that we are back in joint fourth place with Renault in the World Championship. Now we go highly motivated to Austria."

Team Sauber Petronas will be testing at Valencia in Spain from Tuesday to Thursday this week in preparation for the Austrian GP in two weeks' time.

Driver (Chassis)
Heidfeld (C21-06) 4th
Massa (C21-03) 5th
Spare: (C21-01)

-sauber-