Diniz struggles past checkered flag in Canada

Schumacher leads his Ferrari teammate to victory in the Canadian Grand Prix Keystone

Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix is one that Switzerland's Sauber team would rather forget. Mika Salo's car collapsed on the 46th lap, while Pedro Diniz limped past the checkered flag in 10th position.

The Sauber team had plenty of explanations for their poor performance on Sunday. The boss, Peter Sauber, said Diniz had done well to cross the finishline in 10th position, given that he and teammate, Mika Salo, left the starting blocks in 19th and 15th position respectively.

“In wet weather, it’s very difficult for drivers to move into the front ranks if they are not placed among the leading ten cars in the starting blocks.”

The pouring rain made visibility extremely poor, which may be why Diniz was nearly involved in an accident with Arrow’s driver, Pedro de la Rosa. Their cars touched in the 52nd lap, but no obvious damage was done. Both drivers blamed each other for the incident.

The race was won by Germany’s Michael Schumacher, with his Ferrari teammate, Rubens Barrichello, in second place.

Schumacher passed the checkered flag 90 seconds ahead of Diniz.

swissinfo with agencies