Melbourne: Vitantonio Liuzzi kept his cool in a rollercoaster of a race to finish seventh and win six invaluable points for Force India while Karun Chandhok was among the 14 drivers who lasted the distance in the Australian Grand Prix here today.

Liuzzi bettered his ninth place finish in Bahrain Grand Prix with yet another mature performance to ensure Force India didn’t return empty-handed from the race.

“It was another great race and another great result for the team. It’s a confirmation of the pace we showed in Bahrain and the work the team did over the winter,” said the Italian.

“Tonio drove a brilliant race today and no wonder he is among the points again. He thoroughly deserves it,” Vijay Mallya said.

“We worked hard all weekend for this seventh place and it’s a brilliant result... I think it was another perfect weekend and now we can look forward to Malaysia,” Liuzzi added.