Fisichella’s valuable inputs helped make Force India car a winner: Mallya

Experienced Fisichellas valuable inputs played a crucial role in making the Force India car a winner, says owner Vijay Mallya

Fisichella's valuable inputs helped make Force India car a winner: Mallya

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ASK any Formula One expert and he will tell you that success in the sport is directly related to the quality of one's car.

It is for this reason that Giancarlo Fisichella deserves immense credit for lifting the Force India team from no-hoppers to podium entrants. It took Force India their 30th race to win their first F1 points at the Belgian GP yesterday.

Racing against teams with four to five times its budget, Fisichella provided crucial feedback to the team's engineers to help develop the car over time. And the veteran Italian's success has proved that Dr Vijay Mallya's team made the perfect choice in picking their drivers.

Mallya revealed that the 36-year-old's 226-race experience proved invaluable in the success of Force India.

"If you look up the records, Fisi is probably one of the most experienced drivers in the world. Last year in
Monaco we celebrated his 200 Grands Prix. The fact is, we needed a top-class driver with experience to help the engineers. After all, the engineers don't sit in the car and feedback from the driver to help the engineer develop the car is very critical. Fisi has done a great job by helping in development of the car while driving it brilliantly as well," Mallya told MiD DAY after yesterday's race which ended with Fisichella in second place.

Fisichella made his F1 debut in 1996 for Minardi and has also driven for Renault, Sauber, Jordan and Benetton.

"Our performance today proved that money alone cannot buy success.

"We had a rather small budget, but with the right kind of effort and direction, we have become a competitive side," the liquor baron added.

An example of how important the quality of the car is, was experienced by Fisichella himself yesterday. The Force One driver lost out to eventual winner Kimi Raikkonen because the Ferrari car had the KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System).

"Raikkonen got ahead only because of the KERS. I was quicker than him and kept chasing him all through the race. I could have won," said Fisichella.

Mallya said it was too late to "upgrade the KERS this season and from next year, there is no KERS at all".

Good investment
Overall, Mallya's investment in experienced campaigners has paid off this year. In the 2009 edition of the Indian Premier League cricket, another veteran Anil Kumble changed his team's (Royal Challengers)u00a0 fortunes with brilliant leadership skills which took them to the final.

"One does look at experience, one looks at talent and capability as well. It's a complete package," said Mallya.

The great show at the Belgian GP has naturally increased the expectations of Force India. Looking ahead to the remaining five races, Mallya said: "When you do well, you raise expectations and the bar gets raised. But this is what sport is all about. If you cannot raise the bar, you have no business being here."

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