Team SAUBER PETRONAS drivers Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella finished the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship season with eighth and ninth places respectively in today's Brazilian Grand Prix in Interlagos, confirming the team's sixth place overall.

Giancarlo Fisichella: "Early on I was running very close to another car and got caught out and had to go on to the grass when it braked earlier than I expected. I lost time there, and after that we were unlucky with the weather. My strategy was good but the changeable conditions spoiled it, so for me it was a frustrating final race for Sauber.
"That's racing, so most of all I would like to say thank you to everyone in
the team for such a great season."

Felipe Massa: "It was a fantastic feeling, leading the race. I will never forget that lap! "Early on it was very slippery but the car was really fast. I lost some ground when Rubens was a bit cautious, but I could catch people really quickly. After we changed tyres and the track dried it was very hard to find grip until the end of each stint, but I settled into a confident pace and I am satisfied after achieving my goal of scoring a point. Leading a race in front of my home crowd was the icing on the cake!"

Peter Sauber (Team Principal): "Today was definitely not our sort of weather, but nevertheless we led a lap of the race and scored another point, as Felipe put the final full stop to the story of his strong season. I was very pleased for him to have such a good performance in front of his home crowd and to score that point, while Giancarlo shone yet again and showed his consistency and speed after his initial delay. I thank him for all that he has brought to our team this year, and we are sad as we bid him a fond farewell.

"Finally, my thanks to the entire team, both at Hinwil and here in
Interlagos, for their efforts in generating the speed and essential reliability of the SAUBER PETRONAS C23 which made it possible to score 34 points and to be one of the top three most reliable teams in a great year."