Formula One (General)

[suresh]

Fabulous stuff from Fisi. Sutil just missed making it to the final qualifying session. A good showing from the Force India team. Now, they need to convert P1 to collect their first points of the season. Good luck Force India.

[jaydeep]

At 2009 Formula 1 Spa Race, Belgium

In qualifying at Spa history is made as Vijay Mallya's Force India take their first pole position ... Before this race Force India didn't even qualify for Q3 in qualifying ... This is huge achievement from 2 yrs old Force India, this pole position will be huge boost to their plan for future progress.

Giancarlo Fisichella finished on top position ahead Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld ... Force India's Adrian Sutil finished on 11th place ahead of McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, Renault’s Fernando Alonso and Brawn GP’s Jenson Button, as they qualified on 12th, 13th and 14th respectively.

Hopefully Force India earn their first point tomorrow and I m hoping for podium finish ... Go Force India.

[vidhyashankar]

Awesome!!! Vijay Mallya's team has been showing some improvements, but P1 is Incredible!!!

[piranha]

Isn't it amazing or what? VJM probably ordered the team to put minimum fuel in the car to grab the pole, so I expect Fisi to pit very early in the race. But the car was fast all weekend, both with Fisichella and Sutil. I predict first points for the team. Fisi has a good record of being a competitive Spa racer. He might just get to the podium. Let's keep those fingers crossed.

[jaydeep]

Force India driver Giancarlo Fisichella secured podium position finishing second behind Kimi Raikkonen ... Amazing day for Force India as this was not only their first podium finish but also first incident when they r grabbed championship points!!!


Kimi Raikkonen took his fourth Belgian Grand Prix win on Sunday, but the Ferrari driver was pushed all the way by Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella, who finished less than a second behind him.

Hamilton and Button went out of the race in first lap mishap ... Kimi take early lead and kept that through out the race but most importantly Fisi matched him and Force India matches Ferrari's strategy ... Special mentioned of Pit crew who were lightening fast in pit lane for pit stops and they relly helped Fisi to match Kimi on race track.

At 2009 Formula 1 Spa Race, Belgium - Top 8

1 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 44 1:23:50.995
2 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 44 +0.9 secs
3 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 44 +3.8 secs
4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 44 +9.9 secs
5 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 44 +11.2 secs
6 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 44 +32.7 secs
7 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 44 +35.4 secs
8 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 44 +36.2 secs

[vidhyashankar]

Well done Force India!!

Amazing race by Fisi and was great to see force india matching ferrari..

[Prashant]

Damn KERS. If not for those, Fisichella would have had the first WIN for Force India. After the safety car, the KERS helped Raikkonen separate. But fantastic performance by Fisichella, who sadly will almost certainly be driving for Ferrrari next year.

[PKBasu]

I am not a fan of F1, and really know and care little about the sport. But I went to the Singapore F1 qualifying last Saturday (mainly because my 11-year-old son is a fan, and wanted to go; only later did I realize that my wife and daughter were keen as well because of the social aspects of it, but by then it was too late to get them tickets!).

I must say I was utterly underwhelmed by F1 as a spectator sport. There was no real racing (as each car is effectively racing against the clock, leaving the starting block with sufficient gaps). Worst of all, the crowd had absolutely no idea who was ahead and behind (except for those carrying along a complicated little electronic device that basically provided live commentary and video coverage). Consequently, there was ZERO crowd participation -- bizarre for a sporting event. Only a few minutes after the race was completed was there some faint applause when it was announced that Hamilton had finished first.