The 2008 edition of the Belgian Grand Prix was yet another classic race, with rain, sunshine, spins, incidents and an unpredictable result until the very last metres. The Force India Formula One Team drivers performed well in the challenging conditions, with Adrian Sutil finishing 13th and Giancarlo Fisichella in 17th positions.
Adrian had a good start to move up two places from on his starting position until a spin on lap 7 put him back to the rear of the field. Undeterred, Adrian bettered his times every lap and had graduated to 17th by his first stop on lap 17. A close battle with Jenson Button of Honda then ensued as Adrian made up 16 seconds in 12 laps until the heavy rain fell in the closing laps. With just three laps to go Adrian elected to stay on the dry tyres to collect 13th position at the flag fall.
Giancarlo’s race was compromised on the first lap when Nakajima spun in front of him. With nowhere to go, Giancarlo crashed into the side of the Japanese, losing his front wing and limping back to the pits for a nose change. On rejoining he came out just in front of the leaders and was subject to blue flags thereon in. The Italian pushed hard to close the gap to the pack and took full advantage of the wet conditions. As one of the first to pit for wet tyres, he regained one of his lost laps and came home in 17th position.
Adrian Sutil (car 20)
‘It was a strong race for us, with a good performance. We had quite a lot of fights on the circuit and lots of overtaking. I caught up with Button and was right behind him, but then there was the rain in the last laps. As there were just a couple of laps left and we were quite quick on the wet conditions with dry tyres, we stayed out and I could pass him and some other guys. I am quite happy with this race.’
Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21)
‘Unfortunately Nakajima spun and came across in front of my car and I broke the front wing and damaged the car quite a lot. Coming back to the pits I lost a lot of time as I had no front wing and punctured tyres. Unfortunately when I went out of the pitlane I was just in front of the leaders and then had blue flags at least 40 times! Towards the end of the race, looking at the weather I called the box and said I wanted to put on the rain tyres. It was the right choice but
there were just two or three laps left and it would have been nice to have those conditions earlier, but I think considering the start the end result was not too bad.’
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer
‘An exciting race in the end and good to get two cars to the finish yet again. Unfortunately Giancarlo’s race was compromised at the start when Nakajima spun and hit him. There was nothing he could do to avoid hitting him, but he did a good job to get to the finish from then on and unlap himself at the end to finish just one lap down. Adrian was on a two stop strategy, running lower downforce and made some progress early on but then a spin dropped him to the back. He then drove an excellent race, particularly in the closing stages.’
Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and managing director
‘An extraordinary end to the race - and a great pleasure considering this to get two cars to the flag. Both drivers had excellent drives and kept clean despite the challenging conditions. Once again I think we have had a positive weekend: we’ve outraced the Hondas and we need to continue this form and pick up some points when the chances come up for the rest of the year.’
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