The Hindu : Sport / Racing : Motor : Fisichella hopes for miracle win

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Fisichella hopes for miracle win

New Delhi: Giancarlo Fisichella won the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix for Jordan amid chaos and in treacherous conditions.

The Force India driver does not rule out a similar show this season, provided there are similar extraordinary circumstances.

After the 2003 race was marred by numerous crashes, Fisichella was seen battling with McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen in that eventful race.

The Italian took the lead on lap 53, but soon the race was red-flagged. Though Raikkonen was initially declared winner for leading two laps prior to the red flag, the FIA later noticed Fisichella had already begun his 56th lap before the race was suspended, and hence it was the Italian, and not Raikkonen, who was leading two laps prior to the red flag.

And in the next GP at Imola, Fisichella was handed over the trophy.

Similar situation prevailing, Fisichella felt a repeat show was not out of the bounds.

“I won the race in Brazil under very special circumstances with a car that was always on the last row of the grid. To win this year again needs very special circumstances so it is a question of what the weather can bring to us,” Fisichella said.

Nothing is impossible

The 34-year-old Italian said he believed in miracles and with the removal of traction control, nothing was impossible. “...As we have seen last year at the Nurburgring, anything is possible — even from very far behind. And sure I have driven in F-1 with and without traction control, so there is no issue of adapting to the change for me — I can simply go racing,” Fisichella told the official F-1 website.

The Renault refugee almost missed out on an F-1 cockpit before the Vijay Mallya-owned outfit roped him in on a two-year contract. Asked about his expectations for the New Year, Fisichella said, “I believe in what I have been told.

“This project is meant to take our team further up the grid, and this is a great challenge. The budget is there and, unlike over the past five years, the technical team finally has the chance to build a better car. It will take time, but I hope to be a guiding force in achieving this objective. Our target is to improve performance in qualifying and racing trims. My personal target will be to bring as many points as I can to the team and challenge all the other cars in the middle of the field,” he added.

Driving an R27 at Renault and now into the Force India car, Fisichella, however, did not see any gulf of difference between the machines. “F8-VII is not a bad car. To tell you the truth I expected a lot worse before I drove it in Jerez for the first time. It is very similar to the R27, as it lacks aerodynamic grip,” he said. — PTI

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