Given that Fisi almost always was three to four tenths off Alonso at Renault, and that Sutil had absolutely no answer to Hamilton's pace when they were team mates in F3, one has to question whether a miracle has been made, enabling two mediocre drivers to slug it out with the best, or is Fisi really that good? Remember that he got thrashed by a certain Kovalainen at Renault, and that he's had no chance compared to Hamilton at McLaren. How much was the FI car today worht compared to the McLaren? A full second, but maybe just Alonso's infamous seven tenths, not to mention Mr. Seven Tenths himself Five tenths off Fisi in Q2, surely the Renault 1.2 seconds slower ? Anyway, I have to praise Räikkönen and his performance. Had Trulli not been there with his heavier fuel load, I'd fancied Kimi as the favourite for tomorrow. So how much was the Force Indian worth compared to the Ferrari? I guess maybe half a second in that case.

To answer your thread title fully and accurately:

No.

May the force be with Fisi..

My first reaction upon reading your thread title was, in fact, your user name.

/thread

You missed out an endif

Hope that doesn't mean the ecu software will crash off the start line

Spa is the real drivers track. So it must be Fisichella making the difference.

The McLaren is still not good in high speed corners, it lacks the aero efficiency as soon as the wings aren't in high-downforce config. Both McLarens were slow in sector 2, where the fast corners are and they just can't carry the speed through the corners the way many others can - if they try, they will go offtrack or crash. McLaren has been very weak on aero performance all season (see Silverstone), and allthough they have improved since Silverstone it's still not great. Where McLaren is good is mechanical grip in slow corners (Hungary, Monaco) or performance at circuits where high-downforce config is used for the wings (like Valencia). They will probably be good at Singapore as well, for this reason.

On fast, flowing tracks like Silverstone and Spa though, the Force India is quite simply the better car (compared to the Mac). Its aero performance is good. In Monaco or Hungary, the McLaren is better.

Overall though, it looks like the Toyota is the car to have at Spa. Another car with massive ups and downs in performance, but on this track it seems to shine. Fuel-corrected Trulli was the fastest driver in Q3 (outright in Q2, as well) and he may be the man to beat tomorrow.

I know, was just ironic about the fact that the driver doesn't mean much in terms of overall performance anymore! Fisi maybe did perform better than Piquet as Alonso's team mate, but he was nowhere close on 4 of 5 occasions, and whenever he did come close, he just couldn't hol his nerve. I just wonder how bad that Renault really is? I think it looks like the worst downforce car at the moment.

Well, Fisichella used to perform very well in midfield in backmarker cars (he won a race in a Jordan, back when they were already severely underfunded). He didn't perform up to expectations at Renault when paired to Alonso, not unlike Trulli (except for the first half of 2004) and Piquet. I don't know why that was so, but outside those 2 years Fisichella has always been considered a talented driver.

Not in C# I didn't

He got beaten by Kovalainen in 2007, don't forget, and that's what makes me doubt his credentials as a top driver That's why I believe that Force India has the best car at this track, Fisi has never been a Spa specialist before either.

I'm not a Fisi fan, but his 2001 performance was pretty sensational. I was genuinely stunned.

Especially at Spa, where he got a podium with a car that was usually a backmarker. He splitted Coulthard and Hakkinen...

I think that this year's results show that there is no "FASTEST CAR" for every track or condition. Different teams and cars seem to shine when the circumstances change, a bit like 2003, except for Button's remarkable start to the season.

Force India probably just got it right for Fisi's setup and since no car is much slower than the rest, there you go. Fisichella was always really quick when the setup was perfect for him, the problem always seemed to be that he would achieve such a setup twice in a season.

Last week it was Barrichello, if Fisi wins this week, that would be quite the showing for the elder statesmen. Go Fisi!
Although if Trulli wins, I will be happy too, even Heidfeld. Hopefully the chasing pack will close in on Button, to make the last few races really exciting.
My guess for the race though is that Raikkonen and Vettel will still have their say on the matter, they have good stint pace. If it rains, then anything goes...

Cooper

No, because fuel adjusted they are not P1.

No but they're very close. Fisi's final lap didnt beat his pole lap, so if he hadnt done that final lap he'd be right up there fuel adjusted.

No rain is expected tomorrow.

Fiischella was genuinely fast in Q1 and Q2, too, so Force India does have speed. I expect Trulli to be even faster though, and Raikkonen and Vettel may come from behind.

I don't remember that dude... In Monaco that year for example Kova was one second slower than Fisi.. This is how rumors start..

Well, if it's C# then an '=' is missing in the comparison, but maybe that's just for readability.

It was yesterday ...

Fisichella always looked so promising in mid-field cars, I really have to wonder what it is? Did Flavio really screw him that bad or was Fisichella systematically broken down mentally by Fernando?

this thread was inevitable really. we all know FI is head and shoulders above the competition. to deny it is just foolish.

Completely incorrect...

Fisi was never "thrashed" by Kova. In fact it was he who thrashed Kova in the first half of 2007, highlighted by Monaco where he was 1 full second faster per lap in qual and the race. After the mid-point of the season Kova got better and Fisi had some bad luck, and when he was behind Kova, it was usually only just slightly behind in the races. It was Fuji where Kova got eight points in one hit (after a great drive) that made most of the difference. The Renault years were up and down for many reasons, with a lot of bad luck relative to Alonso who was at his peak, but even then Fisi did show speed at various times.

And finally as far as Fisi "not being a Spa specialist", when did you first start watching F1, 2006?

1997 - In his first full season Fisi finishes a magnificent 2nd in the Jordan to Schumacher in the wet, beating Villeneuve, Alesi, Frentzen, Berger, Irvine, Hakkinen, Coulthard etc.

2001 - One of the greatest Spa drives ever in the modern era, in very bad car - the Benetton B2001. Fisi fought with the Coulthard all race in the McLaren which was at least 2-2.5 seconds a lap faster than the Benetton that year (just look at some of the qualifying lists with Hakkinen on pole and Fisi 18th). Anyway, Fisi finished 3rd that day and Button his teammate was way down the order, making mistakes and so on.

2005 - After needing an engine change in qualifying (his usual bad luck that year), Fisi had to start from 16th. After storming to 8th in the space of just 6 laps Fisi spun off at Eau Rouge, mainly because he had to run very little downforce cause he had to start in 16th in the first place!

So yeah, except for Monaco and Canada, I would say Belgium is actually Fisi's 3rd best track. I doubt whether anyone would've beaten him today, even if Alonso, etc was his teammate. And finally, if the FI really was the best car, Sutil would be at least 3rd or 4th.

Hope this clears things up for anyone needing a Fisi history lesson...

I think its a case of some of the top teams getting their planning and testing program wrong and others getting it right. Spa is tough for setup as its got everything thrown in the mix.

I'm trying to answer but the damn moment keeps changing, like, constantly..

Fuel adjusted, the quickest car round Spa is Trulli's Toyota. Not Fisi's Force India.

Fisi is very good... but he just doesn't have the Lauda-mentality when his teammate is quicker. With which I mean: 'Oh my teammate is quicker than me? I'll be smarter then...' Even the fastest teammates make mistakes. If you don't make ones yourselves you can take advantage of that. Fisi gets nervous, and starts making mistakes when he's outqualified on merit. Even at Force India that is the case sometimes...

I find that interesting:

1997 to 2001 --> 4 year gap
2001 to 2005 --> 4 year gap
2005 to 2009 --> 4 year gap

So, to add:

2009 - Gets pole position in a Force India (and wins?)

Maybe Fisi is only good at Spa every 4 years?

You're justifying Fisi being a 'Spa specialist' by talking about a race at Spa when he fell off the road.... What about the other 9 races he's done at Spa - One swallow does not make a summer.

Don't take this as a bash at Fisi, quite frankly he's done an amazing job to get the FI on pole, and I hope he gets some good points in the race as a reward!

If it was Oracle's PL/SQL yes, any other 3GL language no (atleast not pacsal not C++)

somewhat my thoughts and based on some pretty clear facts

'pretty clear facts'

It was one of the best cars around Spa in yesterday's conditions.