A second successive podium finish eluded Karun Chandhok as the iSport International driver finished fourth in the feature race of the GP2 series at the Hungaroring on Sunday.
The 24-year-old from Chennai, started from fifth on the grid but could have been higher had he not been forced into a spin by a slowing car ahead of him that caused his engine to stall.
Chandhok was on the front row when the incident happened after Jerome d'Ambrosio suddenly slowed in front of him.
"I had to move to the inside to avoid him, but in doing so I clipped the kerb and spun," Karun said.
"I didn't quite max out the first set of tyres, which was still good enough for second at the time, so I'm disappointed I didn't get a chance to prove I could have gone quicker on the second set of fresh tyres," he said.
Karun was plagued by a clutch problem which saw him drop from fifth to seventh on the opening lap. But thanks to some quick laptimes and some swift pitwork from his iSport International crew, Karun went on to finish just off the podium in a strong fourth place.
"Bearing in mind what happened in the first couple of laps, a fourth place finish is a good result," said Karun.
"I almost had to come to a halt to avoid a major crash. We showed we had good pace, and as usual around it here it was hard work in the high temperatures," said the youngster.
And his sprint race was over before it really begun. A mystery electronic problem stranded him on the dummy grid, and not even attention from his iSport crew in the pitlane could fix the car in time for the start of the race.
"It was so frustrating, being ready to go and then something like this happens," he said.
"I just sat there in neutral not able to go anywhere. We tried replacing everything we could even the steering wheel but it made no difference," he said.