Kamui Kobayashi picked up another two points for Sauber at the Nürburgring despite the team struggling for pace all weekend.
The Japanese driver attributed his ninth place finish from seventeenth on the grid to a good start and an excellent pit stop strategy from hsi team.
“My start was good and then I was able to gain some positions in the first few corners of lap one,” explained Kobayashi. “This was nice. I had been 17th on the grid and was in 12th after the first lap. But then it was difficult because our pace just wasn't good enough here.
“The fact that we have scored points is down to a very good pit stop strategy, I want to thank the team for an excellent job. I was able to overtake both Williams during the race, but it was impossible to get Michael (Schumacher). He was way too fast on the straights. However, I'm happy we managed to score after a bad qualifying, and hope we will be performing better at the next race.”
Team-mate Sergio Perez finished just outside the points in eleventh place. He blamed himself for not finishing higher.
“I am not at all happy,” said the Mexican. “Given our grid positions we knew it would be difficult to get some points today, but, as Kamui, has shown it was possible.
“I am angry with myself because I made a mistake on lap eight. I went off and was on the grass. This was why I had to pit early and change tyres. This obviously was not what was planned in the strategy. We recovered a bit from there, but not enough for points, which were my aim. Now I just want to look forward to the next race which is only a few days away.”
