Fisichella steps into pole for Force India

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium – Giancarlo Fisichella gave Force India its first Formula One pole position during qualifying Saturday for the Belgian Grand Prix.

The 36-year-old Italian produced a quickest lap of 1 minute, 46.308 seconds around the high speed Spa-Francorchamps circuit for the Indian team.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Fisichella, who ran on one of the lightest fuel loads. “I expected to be competitive but I didn’t expect to be on pole.”

Jarno Trulli of Toyota will start second, ahead of BMW Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld following a qualifying session that threw up many surprises.

Overall F1 leader Jenson Button will start from a season’s worst 14th place after failing to reach the last qualifying session for the first time, while Brawn GP teammate Rubens Barrichello will start fourth on the grid. Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel and teammate Mark Webber will attempt to take some points from Button’s lead, but begin from eight and ninth, respectively.

But the spotlight is on Force India, which is trying for its first point from its 30th race.

“Starting from pole position one must try to win a race but, equally, one must take care not to do anything stupid,” Force India team principal Vijay Mallya said.

Trulli was as surprised as anyone considering Toyota had been struggling this season.

“It’s a mystery, honestly,” Trulli said about his car’s performance. “We haven’t done anything on the car compared to the last few races and suddenly here we are extremely competitive.” (AP)