Fisichella says start cost him point
Giancarlo Fisichella believes that a bad start cost him the chance to score Force India's first point of the season in the Monaco Grand Prix
The Italian finished in ninth place, less than two seconds behind Sebastien Bourdais' Toro Rosso, but was nonetheless delighted to have out-performed the far more fancied BMW Sauber and Toyota squads over the entirety of the weekend.
"Ninth position is a great result for the team," said the veteran Italian. "The pace was very good and consistent and I felt I was driving well, taking care of the tyres and putting in some fast laps at the same time.
"I just lost a position at the start and perhaps it was this that cost me the point in the end, but we have to be happy about today."
Team boss Vijay Mallya was delighted with the pace shown by both Fisichella and Adrian Sutil - who finished a lapped 14th after incorrectly choosing to start on the super-soft tyres - all weekend.
He described the performance of the weekend, during which both drivers made it into Q2 for the first time
"This has been a very encouraging weekend all round," the Indian added. "We got two cars into Q2 and finished within a whisker of the points; and all on merit.
"We've incremented our performance and raced it well this weekend, and we know we have more upgrades in the pipeline, which is a great motivating factor.
"I would like to say thank you to both drivers for keeping focused and pushing so hard and to the entire team at the track and at the factory for keeping the momentum going.
"If we continue on the path we have now laid before us, I am certain we'll achieve the success we all deserve."
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Andy Priaulx set to leave DTM to switch to GT racing in 2014
Marc Marquez sets blistering pace in Valencia MotoGP test
Why the DTM doesn't need Britain anymore
Ranking the top 10 Benetton F1 drivers
Friday favourite: Renault's original F1 title-winner that began the Alonso era
The humble video that secured an unforgettable underdog F1 win
The pointed note that starts Ferrari's Leclerc vs Sainz era
Albon: No point 'wallowing about' over lost Red Bull F1 place
The small change that will be F1 2021's big talking point
Quartararo: Marquez's Honda MotoGP exit "woke a lot of people up" at Yamaha
How national entries in the first month of the season stack up
COTA: F1 and MotoGP double-header possible but not probable
WRC 2025 rules limbo creating “critical” situation for teams
Why F1 2026 worst case fears could be key to new rules success
How the F1 driver market situation sits for each team with 2025 openings
What's been going wrong for Leclerc in F1's tiny margins qualifying game
What the Chinese GP's highlights reveal about its first F1 race for five years
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments