The humble video that secured an unforgettable underdog F1 win

Twenty years ago this month, the FIA didn’t realise it had cocked up the finishing order of the Brazilian Grand Prix. It took the persistent detective work of the IT team at Jordan Grand Prix to prove Giancarlo Fisichella had won at Interlagos and oblige McLaren and Kimi Raikkonen to hand back the Brazilian trophy
 at Imola two weeks later.

Eddie Jordan would have celebrated a point for eighth place, never mind the 10 that eventually came his way. The 2003 season was all about survival for Jordan, a mission seemingly made even more difficult just before the start in Brazil when rain added to the track’s inherent hazards. The Jordan technical crew, led by Gary Anderson, saw it differently.

The unpredictable conditions allowed Anderson to throw the strategic dice after Fisichella had claimed an impressive eighth on the grid (the Italian having qualified 13th and 14th previously in Australia and Malaysia). With each driver limited to a single lap of qualifying (new for 2003), Fisichella’s brave performance was being dismissed by those who believed the Jordan was running light and taking temporary advantage of another substantial change to the regulations.

In a bid to bring variety and deal with concerns about Ferrari and Michael Schumacher winning the title for a fourth successive year, this first iteration of the parc ferme rule in operation today meant competitors had to qualify their cars in the condition in which they intended to start the race. With refuelling allowed, this meant a low fuel load would bring speed during qualifying on the understanding that the necessary early stop for fuel could heavily compromise race strategy. As the rain fell, however, all bets were off – as the race should have been, too, given the biblical proportions of the Brazilian deluge.

It wasn’t long before the inside of Turn 3 at the bottom of the Senna Esses acted like a bath plughole that had become blocked by drivers tearing out their hair. A wet-weather tyre with grooves big enough to hold Bernie Ecclestone’s wallet would have had difficulty cutting through the river of water. Even when no less a luminary than Schumacher joined the wrecker’s yard on the outside of the corner, officials saw fit to have the race continue as if nothing had happened.

The Jordan crew, meanwhile, had been playing the odds by bringing in Fisichella at the end of lap eight. Giancarlo wasn’t best pleased with having a full load of fuel to add to his difficulties in such treacherous conditions but, as the race continued and the rain eased, he began to see the wisdom of the tactic as others either crashed or made their pitstops and his race position went into single figures. When Rubens Barrichello, having started from pole, suffered the heartbreak of running out of fuel while leading on lap 46, Fisichella was elevated to fourth, which quickly became third when Ralf Schumacher pitted his Williams-BMW.

Led by the McLarens of David Coulthard and Raikkonen, Fisichella had visions of actually improving his unexpected potential podium position, particularly when Coulthard dived into the pits for a second scheduled stop. No one was sure precisely how much longer the grand prix would last thanks to safety car interventions having extended the running time. It was possible the race could be stopped at three-quarter distance (54 laps – which wasn’t far off) when maximum points would be awarded.

The difficult conditions caught out many drivers, including reigning champion Michael Schumacher - just one of many incidents in a chaotic race

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Fisichella didn’t care about the precise number of points as he took the lead when Raikkonen ran wide at the beginning of lap 54. They finished the lap 0.9 seconds apart with the Renault of Fernando Alonso chasing hard a distance behind in third. Then came another crash, this one more dramatic than anything that had gone before.

Mark Webber was looking for ways to keep
 his worn intermediates alive when the Jaguar
 let go as he crested the rise onto the pit straight. The safety car was deployed for a fifth time, Fisichella and Raikkonen picking their way through wreckage strewn across the track before the McLaren driver dived into the pits for his second stop. Alonso, still pushing hard, smashed into one of the Jaguar’s errant wheels, adding to the scene of destruction and prompting the red flag. Fisichella picked up the safety car and returned to the pitlane – where the rear of the Jordan overheated and caught fire. That’s a minor detail when you think you’ve won your first GP.

"In addition to recording the television footage, we were also recording timing on page one. The reason for this was simple, and the coincidence that we were doing so at this race, uncanny" Mark Cormican

Eddie Jordan, receiving congratulations from Peter Sauber among others, was beside himself. So was the Jordan pit crew as they gathered beneath the podium. After an interminable delay, a subdued Fisichella appeared – and made his way to the second step. The two-lap countback meant that Raikkonen had been declared the winner because he had been in front at the end
 of lap 53. Second place was actually a bit of an anti-climax. No matter. Eight points will do nicely, thanks very much.

As various members of Jordan’s senior management headed for home, Mark Cormican, Jordan’s trackside IT support engineer, remained behind at the circuit.

“About three hours after the race, I received a phone call from Simon Cayzer, one of our engineers,” said Cormican. "They were at the airport and starting to question the result in more detail. I was asked to secure a copy of the
 FIA’s official timing report. It was normally issued
 after each race but, for whatever reason, ours hadn’t been delivered. The engineers wanted to know on which lap the race had been stopped.

“
I obtained a copy from BAR-Honda and noted
 the race had stopped on lap 55. I called Simon, gave him the news, and put the report in my laptop bag, in readiness for dropping off at the factory on my return first thing on Tuesday morning before going home.”

Meanwhile, not realising just how crucial this would become, the team had recorded the live race feeds and other information to video tape. Cormican explains why: “Formula One Management provided 10 television channels
 to the pit garages. The first four were timing pages; the remaining six were various TV
 pictures covering things such as in-car footage, pitstops and the pictures going out to the world feed. Standard procedure at the time was for
 us to record all the sessions of the world feed
 onto VHS for review later by the drivers and
 engineers.

Team boss Eddie Jordan and Giancarlo Fisichella thought they'd missed out on victory

Photo by: Motorsport Images

“But this race was different. In addition to recording the television footage, we were also recording timing on page one. The reason for this was simple, and the coincidence that we were doing so at this race, uncanny.

“During the previous season, the engineers
 had been working on a race strategy programme. 
Code was developed back at the factory, but no raw timing page data was available. One of the main problems was accurately entering the lap chart information and timing for all 20 cars for every lap of the race. Attempts to do this manually had proved well-nigh impossible.

“So, we hatched a plan to use a video capture of page one. Scanning this into a computer would enable real-time collection of the lap information. This would then provide raw material for the engineer to refine and complete his code and improve the strategic planning of pitstops. It was decided to ship the recorder to the first three flyaway races of 2003, Brazil being the third.

“On Tuesday afternoon [after the race], I received a call at home from Simon. He wanted to know when the freight would get back to the factory, as the [page one] video would be in the freight and this would be crucial in proving Fisi [Fisichella] had actually started lap 56 when the race was stopped. In which case, the countback should have been to lap 54 – when he was leading.

“Ten minutes later, I was in the factory and joined Simon, Gary Anderson, Rob Smedley [race engineer] and others as we sat and watched the crucial part of the race. We counted the seconds from Fisi passing the debris until the 'red flag' message appeared on screen. Simon was adamant that Fisi would have crossed the line and reached the first corner. Then someone mentioned that a journalist had said he’d been watching the timing screen in the media centre and noticed that the page had changed just after the race – and then again, about 10 minutes later. Our page one video would provide 
the proof.

“Fate would play another card as the flight carrying our freight was delayed by almost 24 hours. It was mid-morning Thursday before the video was retrieved. Our appeal was due to be heard in Paris the next day. Screenshots were taken of
 the important pages with the critical details:

15:46:19 1st FIS 54 laps completed,
 2nd RAI 0.9 seconds gap to leader,
 3rd ALO 6.6 seconds gap to leader

15:47:45 1st FIS 55 laps completed

15:47:49 RAI pits from 2nd

15:47:51 RED FLAG

Giancarlo Fisichella sidestepped debris to cross the line and begin the all-important 56th lap

Photo by: Motorsport Images

“Bingo! There it was. Fisi had crossed the line, completing 55 laps and had started lap 56 six seconds before the red flag was shown. We now had evidence from the FIA – no less! – to
 prove the team’s telemetry was correct. Fisi
 had completed 55 laps.”

Further examination of the timing screen would show the following:

15:47:51 RED FLAG 1st FIS 55 laps

15:48:16 RED FLAG 1st FIS 55 laps,
 2nd RAI 0.9 seconds gap to leader,
 3rd ALO 6.3 seconds gap to leader

15:48:18 RED FLAG 1st FIS 54 laps,
 2nd  RAI 0.9 seconds gap to leader,
 3rd ALO 6.3 seconds gap to leader

15:57:42 RED FLAG 1st FIS 54 laps,
 2nd RAI 0.9 seconds gap to leader,
 3rd ALO 6.3 seconds gap to leader

15:57:43 RED FLAG 1st RAI 53 laps,
 2nd FIS 0.8 seconds gap to leader,
 3rd ALO 6.6 seconds gap to leader

In the face of Jordan’s evidence, the FIA had no hesitation – no option, in fact – in amending the results. No one could satisfactorily explain why the timing page had been changed at 15:57:43. It transpired the FIA had kept no record of the timing pages (a fact that was rectified for all subsequent races). Jordan’s video had provided the sole and incontrovertible evidence.

Had the original results stood, three-quarters distance would not have been reached. The race should either have been restarted or half points awarded. Race officials had done neither. In addition to securing the victory, Jordan had therefore nudged the race distance into the final quarter and saved the FIA from sinking even deeper into a mire of its own making.

Jordan and Fisichella had to wait until Imola to get their hands on the winning trophies

Photo by: Sutton Images