Fisichella delighted with sixth place

Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella, last year's Malaysian Grand Prix winner, said sixth place on Sunday was as good as a podium finish given the team's trouble with pace.

Fisichella was 12th on the grid but was able to make a late first stop because he could start with a full fuel load after qualifying outside the top 10.

"This was the maximum I could do today," said Fisichella. "In our situation, it feels like a podium finish. I am proud of the race I drove today and the pace was better than during the rest of the weekend.

"The team is realistic about the position we are in but we are working hard to understand why we are not on the pace. It is a step forward and everybody is motivated to improve the car."

Fisichella's team-mate, Finn Heikki Kovalainen, scored his first Formula One point after his eighth place from 11th on the grid.

"It's a nice feeling after such a tough race," said Kovalainen. "The race was a definite step forward compared to Melbourne and our competitiveness was better than we showed in qualifying."

Fisichella was fifth at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix last month while Kovalainen finished 10th.

Team principal Flavio Briatore said the team performed to their maximum on Sunday.

"This is our level at the moment," said Briatore, who saw double world champion Fernando Alonso move to McLaren at the end of last season.

"I think the result is one that we deserved and there is no other answer than for us to carry on working hard to climb back to the top."

Malaysia's Sepang circuit looks shabby and is in need of a facelift, according to Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

"They did such a fantastic job when it first started, but now it has become, if you don't mind, like an old house that needs a bit of redecorating," Ecclestone told Malaysia's New Straits Times newspaper.

The Sepang International Circuit complex first staged a Grand Prix in 1999 when it was hailed for its state-of-the-art facilities and space-age design.