Veteran Italian Giancarlo Fisichella clocked in a string of competitive times to finish 11th quickest of the 16 drivers as Force India completed its penultimate winter test in Jerez in style.
Kimi Raikkonen won the Belgian Grand Prix for Ferrari's first success of the Formula One season on Sunday after championship leader Jenson Button crashed on the opening lap.
Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella will start his 200th Formula One race, Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix, in last place. The Italian, who had already collected a five-place penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change, was the slowest qualifier on Saturday.
The Force India driver completed 102 laps at the Circuit de Catalunya for a best timing of 1:22:233 seconds.
Italian Giancarlo Fisichella says he joined the Force India Formula One team because he likes a challenge. 'I had other options at the end of the last season. (But) this was the best.'
The Jordan racer shrugged off his reputation as Formula One's most underrated talent to win the 'Drivers' Driver' vote at the F1 Awards.\n\n
Giancarlo Fisichella, who just became a 'former' Force India driver, had quite a busy first day at Ferrari, his new employer.
"We have been offered deals that are absolutely fine with what we wanted," said the Sauber driver's manager.
The Italian driver broke into the top 10 in practice for Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Fisichella, 35, lapped ninth fastest in Friday's afternoon practice session at Albert Park after ending the morning with the 12th best time. German team mate Adrian Sutil was 17th.
F1 drivers rallied around Lewis Hamilton in defending the McLaren rookie against a suggestion by Jacques Villeneuve that his driving is dangerous.
Italian Giancarlo Fisichella and German Adrian Sutil will race for Force India again next season, the Formula One team has said. The pair had been confirmed for 2009 in October but a new technical deal between Force India and McLaren Mercedes led to speculation of a change with McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa testing for Force India last month.
Ralf Schumacher and Giancarlo Fisichella will be among seven drivers testing for Force India.
After an inconsistent morning session where he finished 19th on the timesheet, Fisichella looked far more impressive in the afternoon and despite being slowed down by Toyota's Timo Glock, the Italian lapped in 1m 36.756s to finish 9th among 21 drivers.
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement that it was reviewing Sunday's race result after a timing discrepancy came to light.
The 17th place finish at the Belgian Grand Prix was hardly what Giancarlo Fisichella would have liked but the Italian is not crying over spilt milk and instead, is hoping to make amends at his home race in Monza on Sunday. The Force India driver expects the local crowd to cheer for him but he also recognises the fact that it is also going to be a challenge to live up to their expectations.
After 29 false starts, the Vijay Mallya-owned Force India finally nixed the hoodoo and scored their maiden Formula One points with Giancarlo Fisichella finishing second in the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Force India driver posted the fourth best time in testing at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya.
Renault discard Giancarlo Fisichella and highly-rated German Adrian Sutil will lead the Force India F1 while another Italian Viantonio Liuzzi will be its another test driver.
The renamed team, formerly Spyker, said on Wednesday that the two would each have a full day of testing in Jerez from December 4-7, joining fellow-hopefuls Christian Klien of Austria, Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi and France's Franck Montagny.
The Italian grabbed the third pole position of his career, knocking Honda's Jenson Button off the top spot as the seconds ticked away at the end of the session.
Giancarlo Fisichella vividly remembers how his decision to join Force India evoked sneers from his peers. But it took him just three races to embarrass the naysayers and the veteran Italian driver says he now feels vindicated.
Force India achieved its best start of the season on Saturday when Giancarlo Fisichella booked the 13th slot on the grid for Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix, two positions ahead of his German teammate Adrian Sutil. It was dream come true for the Silverstone-based outfit as both the cars gate crashed into the second qualifying session (Q2), something they had not achieved thus far.
Force India drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil will start Sunday's French Grand Prix at the back of the grid after being eliminated in the first qualifying session in Magny-Cours. Due to the 10-pace grid penalty on Williams' Nico Rosberg from the Canadian Grand Prix, Fisichella and Sutil avoided a 19-20 start by finishing 18th and 19th respectively.
Force India return to the scene of their greatest race this weekend with scant hopes of repeating last year's Belgian Grand Prix heroics.
Despite introducing new aero package, Force India will start Sunday's British Grand Prix from the back of the grid with Adrian Sutil at 19th, just ahead of teammate Giancarlo Fisichella. Force India's gamble of putting in a series of laps in the opening 10 minutes and then a final flying lap in the dying minute nearly paid dividends, with Fisichella almost breaking into the top 15 on his very last lap.
Force India's No 1 driver Adrian Sutil discusses his showing in 2009 and targets for the upcoming season.
A fuel system failure and an accident marred Force India's final day of pre-German Grand Prix testing, curtailing Giancarlo Fisichella's stint to 74 laps at the Hockenheimring. Fisichella worked on aero development, tyre comparisons besides establishing a set-up for next week's German Grand Prix.
The VJM02 will remain the same blindingly fast car, with or without Giancarlo Fisichella, and Adrian Sutil is good enough to score points in the remaining five races of the 2009 season, said Force India chairman Vijay Mallya.
McLaren: Raikkonen produced a brilliant race with a two-stop strategy.
Team by team analysis of Sunday's San Marino Formula One Grand Prix (listed in championship order).\n
Force India's second qualifying goal didn't materialise but lady luck smiled on them and Giancarlo Fisichella will start 15th while his teammate Adrian Sutil 16th after the Toyota cars were pushed to the back of the grid for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix for breaking technical rules.
Force India's search for the elusive maiden point in the current Formula One season continues after Adrian Sutil failed to finish while Giancarlo Fisichella finished 17th at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai on Sunday. Fisichella began from the last position of the grid and gained three places when he took the chequered flag in the 56-lap penultimate race of the 2008 Formula One season.
Pipped by Honda's Rubens Barrichello in the last corner, Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella will start 17th in the Malaysian Grand Prix after yet again coming tantalisingly close to making the cut for the second qualifying session in Sepang on Saturday. Fellow Force India driver Adrian Sutil will start 21st. Ferrari occupied the front row of the grid with Felipe Massa grabbing the pole just ahead of team mate Kimi Raikkonen.
Seven times world champion Michael Schumacher will start in 14th place after replacing his engine.
The second qualifying session (Q2) continues to elude Force India which will have Giancarlo Fisichella 18th on the starting grid followed by Adrian Sutil in the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Force India will keep the same lineup of Italian Giancarlo Fisichella and Germany's Adrian Sutil next season, the Formula One team's owner Vijay Mallya said on Friday. Mallya said he has been talking to Mercedes about the possibility of replacing Ferrari because he wants an engine, gearbox and Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) in one package from his supplier for next year.
Giancarlo Fisichella outpaced Lewis Hamilton and cut through a cluttered midfield to finish an impressive 12th as Force India notched up its first double finish of the season in the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.
His last-gap effort notwithstanding, Giancarlo Fisichella could not make the cut for the second qualifying session and the Force India driver will start 18th on the grid for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix, with his German team-mate Adrian Sutil a row further back at 20th.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances