On the day when it was confirmed that the team is even closer to changing hands, Spyker scored its first-ever world championship point after Vitantonio Liuzzi was given a 25-second penalty for overtaking under yellow flags.
Liuzzi, who thought he had scored
Scuderia Toro Rosso's first point of the season in the Japanese Grand Prix, was deemed to have overtaken
Adrian Sutil during a yellow flag period that was out for
Anthony Davidson's stricken
Super Aguri.
The result is a landmark for the
Silverstone team as it signals the first time it has featured in the points since it metamorphosed from Jordan Grand Prix to M
F1 Racing and finally to Spyker.
Sutil was naturally thrilled to get a point on a day of treacherous conditions and on a circuit he knows well from competing in the Japanese F3 Championship.
“For sure, I think we deserved this point after all the hard work this year and we finally got it," he said, "It is a great feeling, even if we didn't get it on the track. I think it was the right decision, there was no green flag after this yellow flag from turn one, so we were definitely right and that is why we got this point.”
Moving the team up to ninth place in the constructors' standings, the point was a sweet one for team principal Colin Kolles, who claims it is a just reward for all the effort put in by the team over the season.
“We had clear evidence that Liuzzi passed Adrian under yellow flags and I am pleased that the stewards of the meeting agreed. The decision, which has ultimately given us our first-ever point, is a just reward for Adrian, who drove an excellent race today.
“It is also a well-deserved boost for all the team's hard work this year. Now we have this milestone ticked off, we can now focus on moving forward and being in the points on a more regular basis. We're all looking forward to China now.”
