Neither Mark Webber nor David Coulthard managed to make the Q3 cut in qualifying for the first time this year, and the duo trailed home line-astern in 12th and 13th spots respectively at the chequered flag in what team principal Christian Horner termed "our least competitive race of the season".
"I had a pretty good start and was fighting with Rubens (Barrichello) through turns two and three," Webber stated. "I got to turn five and had to go between the cars of Ralf (Schumacher) and Rubens and nearly lost my front wing, but we got through it.
"I was held up in the first stint by Ralf, who in turn had Barrichello in front of him. Then, on the first lap of my second stint I had to deal with Ralf while on new tyres, so it was a frustrating race. We tried to go shorter in the second stint to jump Rubens, but it didn't work out."
"The race was going quite well at the beginning and normally, with my longer strategy, I should have been able to jump some people," Coulthard added. "I'm not sure if my in-laps weren't quick enough or if the pit-stops weren't quick enough, but with both stops I didn't gain any advantage.
"Towards the end of the race we turned the engine down, as we weren't racing for points in the last few laps. Looking towards Silverstone next weekend, we'll see what comes out of our de-brief to see what we can do before then."
Engine supplier Renault's principal track support engineer Fabrice Lom was equally underwhelmed by the outcome of proceedings, but was confident the outfit would be able to hit back in its home race at Silverstone in seven days' time.
"This result shows once again how important it is to start from the front of the grid," the Frenchman stressed, "and that it's still very difficult to overtake other drivers because the competition is so tight this season. The engine suffered a little bit following other cars but there is nothing to be worried about for the next race in Silverstone. The only thing we can be positive about is the fact that our direct rivals did not score any points either, but we have to bounce back next week at the British Grand Prix!"
