Force India’s first podium finish, Fisichella finishes second in Belgium

Spa-FRANCORCHAMPS - Formula One Racing team Force India, which is backed by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, on Sunday claimed its first podium finish at the Belgian Grand Prix, as Giancarlo Fisichella exhibited an incredible performance to finish second in the race.

It was also Force India’s first points finish in the team’s second season in the sport, where Fisichella finished 0.9-second behind Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen at the high-speed track.

“I was quicker than Kimi and I’m a little bit sad for that. We had exactly the same strategy. It’s great because I finished second, just one second behind leader - but actually, we could have won the race,” BBC quoted Fisichella, as saying.

After securing first ever pole position for Force India, Fisichella made a perfect start but a collision at the beginning of the race meant that Raikkonen overtook him after the safety cars left the track.

Fisichella matched Raikkonen’s speed throughout the race and applied pressure till the end, but could not thwart Raikkonen from winning the first race for his Ferrari team this season.

“It was fantastic. It was the quickest car on the track. Fisi drove brilliantly. Everybody did a great job. The points are worth squillions to the team. It gives us at least one place in the championship,” said Ian Phillips, Force India commercial director.

Meanwhile, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel finished third with 2.9 seconds behind, and Fisichella’s teammate Adrian Sutil finished 11th.

Currently, Jensen Button leads the Formula One championship with 72 points, while Rubens Barrichello is second with 56 points and Sebastian Vettel third with 53 point. (ANI)