Both drivers were handicapped by Saturday qualifying, when conditions were better suited to those teams partnered with the rival tyre manufacturer. A red flag when Jarno was on his best lap added to their problems, with the result that Ralf and Jarno started in 16th and 17th places respectively.

Variable conditions also affected the race, which started in overcast conditions on a wet track.

“We knew it was going to be a hard afternoon from where we started,” Ralf said, “and our only chance to salvage a result was to do something a little different and hope that the conditions worked in our favour. After being delayed in traffic in the first stint, we gambled on an early switch to dry tyres and a one-stop race, but unfortunately it was too soon. I was the fastest car on the track for a while as a dry line emerged, but I had to retire with an oil pressure problem seven laps from the end.”

Jarno, by that stage, had already been out of the race for 10 laps after suffering a lack of pneumatic pressure.

“Things have not gone our way at any stage of the weekend and it was the same story today,” he said. “We had to take a gamble and, because we were out of the top 10, we had freedom of strategy and we hoped to be able to stretch our first stint until the track dried. Unfortunately it was still too soon when we put dry tyres on, maybe by 10 laps or so, and we then had to cope with a fuel-heavy car on a very slippery surface. Hopefully things will work out better for us at Suzuka in a week’s time.”

An exciting race saw Michael Schumacher score his seventh win of the season for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, and he now moves to the top of the world championship table for the first time this season. Both Schumacher and reigning champion Fernando Alonso have 116 points each but the Ferrari driver has one extra win.

Alonso finished the race in second position, one place ahead of Mild Seven Renault team mate Giancarlo Fisichella. Jenson Button was fourth for the Lucky Strike Honda Racing F1 Team, ahead of Pedro De la Rosa’s McLaren Mercedes and Rubens Barrichello in the second Honda. Nick Heidfeld finished seventh for BMW Sauber despite being hit by Barrichello on the final lap, while Mark Webber took the final point for the Williams F1 Team.

Senior General Manager Chassis, Pascal Vasselon, said: “When you are faced with starting where we were on the grid, you look for any window of opportunity that is open to you. We decided to fuel the cars relatively long in the hope that dry conditions would coincide with our pit stop times and that we could fuel the cars to the end and save ourselves a pit stop. It was still too early when we put dry tyres on but we thought we should be aggressive and take the gamble. Ralf set the race’s quickest lap to that point as people began to change tyres but unfortunately neither car was destined to finish, the first double retirement we have suffered this year. We will regroup and push hard again at Suzuka in just seven days.”