after a tough race

Tiago Monteiro had mixed feelings in Hockenheim at the end of the German Grand Prix. On one hand his fourteenth place finish is one of his best finishes of the 2006 season after Nuerburgring (12th) and Canada (also 14th). On the other hand, Tiago had a hard race and his efforts were almost jeopardized by the drive-thru penalty.

Tiago Monteiro commented: "It was a tough race. I started from 18th and the whole race I had to fight with unplanned surprises which make me feel like we weren’t very lucky here.

Firstly, I almost stalled at the start and thought I was not going to make it. But I managed to overcome the problem and completed four or five laps with a good pace. Obviously with the team, we made a wrong decision with the tyres and then there was no grip for the rest of the race despite our fresh set of tyres.

The balance of the car was good, but then 7th gear was too short and even Sato was able to drive past me. I was behind Sato and he had a lot of problems and losing a lot of oil ­ I tried to pass him but I could hardly see anything because of all the oil on my visor. That’s why I think it was unfair to have been given a drive-through penalty for ignoring blue flags when I couldn’t see them and my radio wasn’t working either which means I didn’t hear any warning from my team.

Finally I’m glad that I made it to the finish which was at least one of my better finishes of the season.