Giancarlo Fisichella scores first points for Force India in Spa (pictures)

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Giancarlo Fisichella scored a remarkable second at Spa - and could've won

Giancarlo Fisichella finally gave Force India their first ever points in Formula 1 on their 30th attempt.

He chased Kimi Raikkonen around every lap at Spa-Francorchamps, rarely more than a couple of seconds behind. With Raikkonen’s temporary team mate Luca Badoer enduring a second dire race, speculation is rife Fisichella will be a Ferrari driver at Monza.

Fisichella kept his lead from pole position at the start while Raikkonen used his KERS – and plenty of the tarmac apron at the first corner – to get a run past Robert Kubica into second.

The Force India driver might well have stayed ahead of Raikkonen if the safety car hadn’t been scrambled following the first lap crash. But on the restart Fisichella was powerless to resist Raikkonen’s KERS-powered attacks and lost the lead on the run to Les Combes.

Raikkonen was never out of Fisichella’s sights all race long – the pair even pitted on the same lap twice. An extra lap of fuel at his first stop could have been enough to get Fisichella the lead – but even so what the team achieved was remarkable enough.

Fisichella has driven well this year, particularly at Monte-Carlo where he was ninth and only a few seconds away from scoring Force India’s first point.

With that milestone finally achieved – and their first podium to boot – can they go one place better at Monza?

The result lifts Force India from last in the constructors’ championship to ninth ahead of Toro Rosso. It means they’re in line to earn a lot more money at the end of the season, a precious lifeline for the cash-strapped team.

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Images (C) Force India F1 Team

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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50 comments on “Giancarlo Fisichella scores first points for Force India in Spa (pictures)”

  1. Well Done Force India!

    Delighted for Them!!!!

    1. i think it was a fantastic race Ferrari won Force india scored 8 points but its not fare saying that Findia is a mclaren people forget the difference between mclaren and mclaren mercedes mclaren[uk] mercedes(Germany) athough mercedes bought load of mclaren shares

      1. what is mclaren interest to help findia dont understand i dont like too much patriotism

    2. i think findia inspire on the Ferrari f2000 they r very similar and ross brawn on another car that he has designed F2001

  2. This is no mean achievement. I’m running out of words to compliment this team. I sincerely hope the indian media, often dubbed as the most influential on the masses, picks up this story. Now its all about propagandizing this result. Its all up to the Indian media.i’m sure if they have the will, they can take this to the masses. i really was hoping for fisi to win. He was definitely quicker than kimi, but i understand he didn’t want to risk it. Now that force india have come out of that shell, i would expect them to feature in the points regularly. Vijay Mallya deserves to be complimented. This team was no where for the past decade. they were last competitive in 1999. This is just superb for motor sport. I really want them to win at least one race this year. hopefully it’ll be at monza.

  3. this article sounds to me that gincarlo overtook the whole field and won the grand prix whereas kimi raikkonen got overtaken by the whole field and finished last.

    1. Kimi is a lucky slaker. He must thank his stars that Force India were playing it safe, didn’t you hear to the radio conversation between him & his race engineer? that Force India pushed him to the limit. I fully understand them not risking it. I’m sure we’ll see a new, more aggressive force india in the coming few races. Force India’s podium means more to the real f1 fan than the ferrari victory. this is the best thing to have happened to formula one this year. you must actually be glad its happened. if not for dirty kers kimi probably wouldn’t have won & he admitted it himself. And there is no reason for the Ferrari Fan to be absolutely ecstatic with this result. They were really push to the limit.

      1. force india means nothing as its pretty much a McLaren.

        1. @ nick, if they were “pretty” much mclaren they should have not ended up on the podium, if what you suggest is correct mate. Force India doesn’t even resemble mclaren in terms of its external appearance. Its so different looking. Maybe you meant Toro Rosso being pretty much red Bull?? its hardly the case. they are no where near red bull, despite have the same aero config as red bull & perhaps the better engine. just stop this silliness & accept that force india were the fastest car out there today at spa.

          1. well they use more than just an engine, something else as well. Also, they have a McLaren employee working with them with the car.

        2. force india means nothing as its pretty much a McLaren.

          No it’s not. The fact one has KERS and the other doesn’t, and that the two cars look completely different, is a more-than-subtle hint.

        3. force india means nothing as its pretty much a McLaren.

          Hmmm You make it sound like FIF1 is like STR’08 which was essentially a redbull clone. From what is known though McLaren has offloaded some woking staff to the team, its not that FIF1 are cloning McLaren Car. They are developing their car independently of Macca and that their car doesn’t even have KERS (Which Macca has) is enough proof of the independent development by the Silverstone based team

      2. Remember Kimis car was carrying damage the whole race so it was hardly a fair comparism to make. Fisi done a great job but the FI was made for Spa in terms of natural set-up.

    2. I agree with shery. If Hamilton won then article was something like ‘Hamilton gave first win to Mclaren’. If Kimi won then these words. I was expacting exactly the same.

  4. but im really very happy for force india,,they have shown that they can do it too.and its not a point..they got 8 points,,,but still i think fishichella had the race pace to win he just lost to kimi raikkonen,,force india was way better than ferrari.

    1. Oh sorry!! didn’t see your second post! glad you agree to the fact that ferrari were push to the limit. Force India really deserve all the accolades. hope people over in India realize the enormity of this achievement.

  5. i agree with u. that ferrari was pushed to the limit and im very happy over their acheievment.i just cant agree that fisichella raced better than kimi..he had every possible chance to win..and i think kimi did a fantastic job to keep him behind,

  6. and force india wasnt playing safe…fisi just couldnt do it despite having the faster car of the two..forget the kers this is a long track and with lot of overtaking opportunities..

  7. give kimi his dues man! I want to see the winner on the home page not the runner up!
    It was an amazing drive to keep fisi behind him in a car not as fast.

    1. There will be a page about how Kimi sneaked out a win or something.

    2. The race report is here: https://www.racefans.net/2009/08/30/belgian-grand-prix-review/

      For obvious reasons I thought Force India scoring their first ever point deserved an article of its own. It wasn’t an attempt to belittle Raikkonen’s achievement, he drove a very good race.

  8. shery, I agree fisi could have gone for the win but anything could have happened, better to play safe and take 2nd.

  9. According to french TV, FIS is going to Ferrari in Monza, ROS and KOV will go respectively to Mercedes and Williams next year. Williams will get the Renault motor as Red Bull will change for Mercedes

    A very nice race and a brilliant job by actors

    1. A very nice race and a brilliant job by actors

      actors?? could you please elaborate? sounds very interesting.

  10. u dont play safe with 0.7–1.0 sec behind the car..he was fighting and he just couldnt do anything of raikkonen..

    1. u dont play safe with 0.7–1.0 sec behind the car..he was fighting and he just couldnt do anything of raikkonen..

      you definitely play it safe when you are driving for a team that were yet to score a point in f1, let alone a podium or a win. they just had to get the monkey of their backs & i must admit they’ve done it in style :) i hope they’ll win atleast one race this year. they deserve it. it’ll awaken 1.2 billion people. isn’t that good for the sport?

  11. shery there was a chance I think when Kimi first got passed him and giancarlo tried to slipstream, Kimi blocked but I don’t think Fisi really wanted to fight for it too much and risk going off. When he couldn’t get passed during pits I think he fought to the end then, just my interpretation

  12. You can never make an excuse over having a KERS on kimi’s car and not on Fisi’s…….If Kimi had KERS, Fisi had Aerodynamic efficiency which was the major part of this grand pix and so the battle was fair and finally won by kimi…..we can say that kimi couldn’t push further due to the lack of efficiency, which Fisi’s car had…..its clear and fair well deserved victory for kimi……getting the car crossing the finishing line first with such a car is amazing……..remember, F60 is not developing now….
    Amazing race, Fisi was fantastic lets see if they continue the same form, kimi and fisi pushed to the limit. As an Indian……I’m Truly happy……but as a Kimi fan its just a cherry added on top of a cake….
    *******************Keep Flying Kimi*********************

  13. last news : according to TV globo Nelson Piquet was ordered to crash by the Renault team during the Singapore GP last year

    here the link :

    http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns21777.html

    look not very realistic but who knows?

    1. aah! don’t take globo tv & Galvao Bueno too seriously!! He’s an absolute patriot 7 will go to any extent to defend his brazilian drivers. We all know how close piquet sr & galvao are :)

  14. Great result for Force India and a flawless drive from Fisi. KERS for Ferrari finally paid off, but as previously stated, without the benefit of the safety car period, it’s doubtful Kimi could have got close enough to make that beautifully executed overtake up the Kemmel straight.

    All kudos to Kimi though, he made an excellent start and nailed Kubica on the same stretch and did well to hold it together into Les Combes.

    Suspect the Fisi Ferrari drive is just more rumour, to add to the raft of rumblings we have heard this weekend (still can’t stop chuckling about the idea of Alonso returning to McLaren, boy has someone got one very naughty sense of humour).

    Vettel did well to bring in a solid return to the points today, but with other teams showing such pace at this point in the season, it’s becoming tough to see Jenson losing the championship.

    Great recovery from Rubens too after a complete louse up of the start again. Shame testing is outlawed, else suspect the team could have tweaked his clutch by now.

    Once more Spa has shown why it is a favourite with the drivers and fans alike. Glad Bernie has stopped muttering about the ‘third-world paddock facilities’ and seems to have grasped the nettle that the great circuits need to be maintained on the calendar.

    Great race and excellent result.

    1. Salty, Spa only secured its spot on the calendar after it upgraded its paddock. And even now, there are rumors that it will alternate with Nurburgring from next year.

      1. I know Spa lost a year until they could tart up the Paddock, but it surely doesn’t match up to Bernie’s 23rd century hi-tech ideal.

        Hope the rumours of alternating Spa are just that mate. F1 needs Spa like it needs Ferrari. F1 doesn’t need CVC and politicians. Was why I was always backing FOTA to breakaway if the FIA wasn’t willing to listen to reason. I only hope the departure of Max Mosley will bring a period of stability and pro-sport growth within F1, as opposed to the intrusive and dictatorial drivel we have seen over recent years.

        If Bernie ever gets to see these sites, where true fans of our sport hold forth, I hope he considers the wishes of us, over the high-end corporate entertaining posibilities. You take away the racing on the circuits and the golden goose WILL stop laying eggs.

  15. I’m so glad to see old-timers like Fisichella, Barichello, Trulli stepped up again at the podium nearly at the twilight of their careers. Congrats again to Force India. Hopefully we see these guys next year. :)

  16. OMG!! Who are these people who downplays Kimi´s performance of today??? That guy started from sixth place and overtake four cars before second lap starts. He was defending whole race his position against quicker car and did win that fight.

    Fisichellas performance was too very, very good. He was just not agressive what needed to pass. I.E. if Hamilton was driving that Force India, Kimi would been in serious problems.

    From all my heart, Kimi deserves this win and Fisi his second place. And Vettel was great too as he made to podium. Ten laps or less and he would been change to pass Fisi and even Kimi.

    1. Fisi didn’t try to pass incase of a collision. Hamilton wouldn’t have gone for the pass either.

  17. Force India…cash strapped? The team is owned by a billionaire who has money to buy outrageously expensive (and controversial) items at auctions.

    Imagine how embarrassed BMW would be if Force India won as many or more races than them!

    Speaking of which, I was waiting for a repeat of Australia when Vettel and Kubica were 3rd and 4th on track with a few laps to go…

    1. Add Toyota to that list ;)

  18. Kimi drove a terrific race.He fully deserved the win.no doubt about it.Fisi was excellent too.so was Vettel.Spa brought the best out of the drivers

  19. Who won the race? Kimi Raikonnen or Fisichella ? So long for serious journalism…

    1. And what is a bigger surprising?

      I can’t believe how tedious and cynical people can be. Kimi hasn’t got enough attention over the last 8 or so years, you want more? Come on, please…

    2. Who won the race? Kimi Raikonnen or Fisichella ? So long for serious journalism…

      This is an article on an F1 team scoring their first point. It doesn’t happen very often. Do you really think it’s not worthy of comment?

  20. Very Nice job from Fisi,

    i was amazed that he was faster, and bummed that he couldn’t mount a challenge to the CURSE.

    it would have been great if he had won, but Raikkonen proved his Ice cold demeanor by not putting one wheel move wrong while he was being chased.

    i rated the race as excellent, because for once, the leader wasn’t running away with it because of different tires, or anything stupid like that…. but i wonder what would have happened if Fisi had delayed one of his pitstops by one lap? will be one of the best what ifs scenario

  21. Any chance of all the belguim gp pics?

  22. I think Fisi should stay with Force India and help build on this succses.

  23. I thought that we are interested in who was best driver today ? Force India and Red Bull were best cars but best driver won. If Lewis had been driving like Kimi did, this would have been evidence that he is all time best . Are you guys little bit bitter when Kimi shows who is real master of track ?

    1. Indeed. Kimi seems to get a lot of flak for eating ice cream after his car breaks down, but when he snatches the win from under the noses of several drivers in faster cars, no one seems to be paying attention.

      Great drive from Kimi.

      BTW did Renault send Alonso out again with an ill fitted front wheel? They put on the next fairing, but it really looked like they didn’t get it locked properly. It looked like it was locked but at the wrong angle.

    2. I’m surprised by the bitterness exhibited by some Raikkonen fans to what I think is entirely just praise of the good work done by Fisichella and Force India this weekend. It doesn’t diminish Raikkonen’s achievement at all to praise the guy he beat.

    3. master of track?

      He is not the best driver out there in my opinion. By all means it was a good drive and he is a brilliant driver and yes one of the best on the track. He’s completed 8 seasons in F1 now, 5 times finishing higher than his team mates, but 3 times lower to Heidfield, Coulthard & Massa – all good drivers but you can’t call everyone a master else it kinda defeats calling someone one.

      (Also to note is twice when he beat his team mates they didnt even complete a whole season I believe.)

      Kimi won this race by a fantastic start using kers, and a good restart after the safety car again using kers. Then a good defence using kers. By all means a good drive and excellent use of kers, but without the restart force India would have left him for dust.

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