Formula One news
Vijay Mallya interview: I thought I was going to faint!
03 September 2009Dr. Vijay Mallya was overjoyed to see Giancarlo Fisichella finish second for Force India in the Belgian Grand Prix. The podium result also meant the first ever points for the Silverstone-based outfit, which is owned and run by the Kingfisher supremo. Vijay talked of the Spa success as well as how to move forward.
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| Mallya celebrates a superb result with Fisichella |
Was Spa one of the best days of your life?
It certainly was. I think the podium finish and getting into the finals of the IPL cricket are two sporting moments that I will never forget!
The qualifying fuel weights suggested that Giancarlo was quite competitive, but looking at the cars behind did you really think that he would hang on and get a podium?
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| Force India's F1 adventure started in Melbourne last year |
Absolutely. We didn't go deliberately low on fuel. In fact, our race strategy seemed to coincide with Kimi Räikkönen's pretty well, so it wasn't that we were trying to grab a lot of attention with a light fuel load. We knew we had a quick car. At the end of the day I'm not greedy. I think we've done exceptionally well, we've redeemed ourselves, and we've silenced all our critics. And more importantly it's been a huge morale booster for the entire team, and all the young guys who have worked tirelessly for this moment. This will be such a motivating factor that we will only get better from here.
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| The achievement was Fisichella's first podium finish since Japan 2006 |
A good finish has been coming over the past three or four races, but to do it in this style must be so special.
It's very special, as we've been distinctly unlucky in several races this year where we should have been in the points but then because of an accident we missed out. But this time our luck held out. Fisi drove brilliantly. I was really hoping that Adrian would get into the points as well. He was really quick, but that extra pit stop [after being hit by Alonso at the start] cost us everything. I think from pole position to finishing second is more than just respectable. So I hope that we use this as a confidence booster in our abilities, and that we hopefully get better from here.
And to do it on one of the great, classic tracks?
Absolutely. It's really special.
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| Force India's first piece of F1 silverware |
Where do you go from here - is it going to be hard to top this?
Such results are fantastic, but they also create more and more expectations, so it puts pressure on us. But there's no reason why we should feel pressured. We've developed our car, and it's clearly competitive. If others can do it, so can we. I think the boys have done a great job, and we really have our aerodynamic programme together. So I'm quietly confident. I feel good for the team and for myself. Sometimes when you keep missing and a level of frustration kicks in and that's very dangerous. People then ultimately say we try so hard, and we never seem to get there. I think we got there and we got there in style, and I think that was the most important achievement.
Was that the longest hour and a half of your life?
I promise you, I had palpitations right through the race. In the last five laps I thought I was going to faint or something!
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