Sutil's race ended on the 10th lap when his car was pushed into the garage because of a hydraulic problem.

"A big disappointment, especially when I was watching the race afterward, but it was good while it lasted," Sutil said.

"We have more hope for Malaysia, but I think we showed an improvement over last year, particularly over the longer runs in practice."

Spare cars are banned this year and his team had to swap his engine and survival cell, after he finished qualifying in 18th position in the 22-car field.

With the last minute swap, the German driver has now used up the only free engine change allowed this season. If Sutil needs another engine change, it will cost him a 10-place penalty on the grid.

Sutil started 17 races in 2007, with his best finish coming in Japan where he ended in 8th place. He had five race accidents last year.

Fisichella was 16th on the grid and was officially ranked in last place. It was a steep descent from his win here in 2005.

"Giancarlo was unlucky at the first corner with someone outside him and (Timo) Glock and (Nelson) Piquet not under control coming down on the inside," Mike Gascoyne, team chief technical officer said. "With Adrian we had a hydraulic failure, a result of having to rebuild his car from yesterday and not being able to do any installation checks."

Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya and Dutch entrepreneur Michiel Mol bought the disbanded Spyker team after last season, hoping to develop it into a serious challenger to powerhouses Ferrari and McLaren by 2010.

"I have been very pleased with this weekend, despite the frustration of going out early," Mallya said. "Overall it was an encouraging weekend and the positive is that we have another event in just one week's time where we can try again."

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