Sato makes a big mistake.

Both drivers had to come in for repairs, arriving at the pit at the same time – Sato for a relatively quick front wing change, Fisichella for a more lengthy stop to replace his damaged rear wing - but by the time they got them back on track, their chances of a top six place were long gone.

On a positive note, the team did enjoy some very welcome reliability with both EJ12s crossing the finish line, Takuma Sato finished his first Formula One race, taking 9th and Fisichella a few places back in 13th.

“I am really sorry about what happened with Giancarlo – I apologise very much as it shouldn’t have happened,” a red-faced Sato said afterwards. ”I saw a Toyota pushing him going into the first corner and then into turn two they were side by side with me right behind them, Then, most unfortunately, I moved across and went into the back of Giancarlo. I damaged my steering and front wing in that incident but the mechanics were able to change the wing in the pit stop, and I coped with the steering problem. The car and tyres became better during the race, and my lap times improved. Obviously I am very happy to have finished the race in the top ten, but this is marred by the fact that I damaged my team mate’s chances of scoring points. I apologised to him immediately after the race and he took it very well, which I think says a lot of good things about his character.”

Fisichella, meanwhile, was philosophical about the incident. “It was good to see both cars finishing the race without any problems, but there is no denying that Takuma made a mistake by hitting me and that this damaged our chances of scoring points. He was right behind me and suddenly I felt him hit me - perhaps he braked too late, I’m not sure. Anyway, he clearly feels pretty bad about it and he came to apologise immediately after the race. There is no point dwelling on it – I think he has learnt his lesson. Otherwise, the race went without any incidents. The car was a bit tricky to handle but I am really encouraged by the reliability, especially under such testing circumstances.”

Eddie Jordan was trying to be upbeat and will be hoping for a much improved result from Brazil in two weeks. “It was encouraging to see both cars running without a hitch, but clearly upsetting to see our two drivers have an incident. There’s no doubt today was a lesson learnt for Takuma and that he cost Giancarlo possible points. But the way both drivers dealt with a difficult situation says a lot about them; Taku not only apologised to Giancarlo, but also went round the entire team to say sorry. Giancarlo took it all extremely well – a clear sign of his maturity.”