Force proves its Mettle

iSport's Force India writer Prasad Rao does a post race analysis of his team's historic performance in Belgium.

fisi_sutil It would be an uphill task to recall the race which Italian Giancarlo Fisichella last won. On Sunday he might not have triumphed in the race but definitely won the laurels in the paddock and the hearts of the Indian Formula1 fan. Starting on a pole position itself was an achievement. On Saturday, I couldn’t catch the qualifying live but I was overjoyed as I received pleasantly shocking messages of Fisichella taking the pole position.

Sunday started with wishes of millions of Force India fans back at home and there were expectations of the much awaited points to be scored by Force India. Dr. Vijay Mallya, the Team Principal, continued to be dynamic and enthusiastic; with all praise for his Italian driver. As the race started, everyone seemed to make a good start apart from Rubens Barrichello, who had suffered clutch problems with his car at the start.

However, millions of eyes were glued on the leading Force India car driven by Italian racing veteran Giancarlo Fisichella. Stars were never ever so bright for Force India before - Fisichella had a good start and was fortunate not to be bumped off at the entry of La Source. However, chaos reined at Les Combes when Romain Grosjean bumped into the back of Jenson Button who in turn spun and collided with Grosjean causing both of them to retire. Mclaren’s Lewis Hamilton backed off after seeing the chaos ahead of him, leading to a speedy Jaime Alguersuari to further crash into him; both crashes ultimately leading to retirement.

The multiple shunts expectedly brought out the Safety Car which jeopardized Fisichella’s first place at the restart – not ideal to have a KERS charged Ferrari on your gearbox through Eau Rouge. Once, the safety car came in on lap 5, Raikkonen, who had charged his KERS battery to full perfectly lined himself up behind Fisichella at the exit of La Source only to execute a perfect slip stream maneuver on the Force India driver through the Eau Rouge corner and the entry of Les Combes. The Italian tried his level best to keep the red car behind him but the pace extracted by the KERS system was unmatchable. Kimi overtook the Indian hopes on the way into straight of Les Combes. That was it; Fisichella could never finish ahead of the Finn and get back his position in the race – except for a brilliant pit-stop strategy.

After the first stop Fisichella closed to within one second of Raikkonen. Fisichella and Raikkonen pitted for the second time on the same lap but it was the Finn who emerged in front and kept his lead. Fisichella kept on trying to put pressure but he couldn’t beat the Finn. Raikkonen took the chequered flag for the first time this season with Fisichella scoring Force India's first-ever points with a second place finish.

Force India’s German driver Adrian Sutil had a mixed race. Sutil started 11th on the grid but a first corner collision with Renualt’s Spaniard driver Fernando Alonso caused the German to drop to 16th place. Alonso retired on lap 27 with a suspected wheel problem as a result of the earlier collision. Sutil managed to put in consistent timings to finish the race at a decent 11th position but this definitely was not the position he was vying for especially when your team-mate is on verge of creating history for the team.

Dr. Mallya was falling short of words to speak on this weekend performance. But he wouldn’t have anything different running behind his mind than this “Winners do what losers do not want to do.” The garage which remained patient for almost two seasons to score their first points had no longer a sore look. With the season being an open affair, Force India now might start thinking seriously on winning races and not just scoring points. As the Force has proved its mettle, now priorities will be changed for better.