Motor Sport: Giancarlo Fisichella may yet be awarded the victory cruelly denied him in last Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix after the sport's governing body, the FIA, yesterday said officials at the Interlagos circuit may have erred in their classification of the race result following the termination of the race.
In a statement released yesterday the FIA said it had "received evidence which suggest that, contrary to the information supplied by the time-keepers at the Brazilian Grand Prix, car no. 11 (Fisichella) had started his 56th lap before the race was stopped.
"If this proves to be the case, the race classification would be at the end of the 54th lap and not at the end of the 53rd lap as published." The race stewards will now be summoned to a meeting in Paris tomorrow morning to review the events of the race stoppage.
When last weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix was red flagged, Fisichella pulled into pitlane from the lead and was convinced he had scored his maiden grand prix win at the 110th attempt.
But within moments of he and his team members beginning jubilant celebrations, it was revealed that the race would be classified two laps previously, as dictated by the sport's rules, and McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen would be declared winner with Fisichella dropping to second.
However, it now appears that the circuit's time-keepers may have erred and Jordan and McLaren have been invited to Paris on Friday to attend the stewards' meeting.
According to a Jordan spokesperson, though the team was aware that the FIA was considering investigating the race result, it was not at the behest of the Irish squad.
The debate on the awarding of the 10 points, which currently bolster Raikkonen's championship lead, will centre on the exact point at which race officials decided to red flag the Brazilian Grand Prix and from what lap the classification should be counted back.
According to article 153 of the FIA's sporting code for Formula One, a race stoppage demands that drivers immediately slow their cars, "in the knowledge that the race classification will be that at the end of the lap two laps prior to that during which the signal to stop the race was given".
In those circumstances, it would appear that Fisichella must be declared the winner.
The red flag signalling the stoppage was occasioned by Renault's Fernando Alonso smashing into debris strewn across the circuit after Jaguar's Mark Webber had crashed heavily into the wall at Interlagos's final left-hand turn.
Prior to that point only the safety car had been deployed to cope with the accident to Webber.
And when Alonso's incident brought out the red flag, it appears that Fisichella had already crossed the start/finish line and took the red flag as he passed through turns one and two of his 56th lap. The Italian passed Raikkonen on lap 54 and led at the end of that tour. If Friday's meeting rules that the classification be counted back from lap 56 then Fisichella looks likely to be awarded victory and 10 points.
For a few tantalising moments in the immediate aftermath of Sunday's chaotic race, Fisichella, Jordan team members and team principal Eddie Jordan celebrated wildly, believing Fisichella had scored Jordan's first win since the Italian Grand Prix of 1999.
"We were 50 seconds from glory," said the team boss, when the news filtered through that the result was to be given in favour of Kimi Raikkonen. It seems now that Jordan will be granted those precious seconds and the team will head to next week's San Marino Grand Prix with Fisichella in fourth place in the championship and the team sitting pretty in third place in the constructors' championship.
If Fisichella is awarded the win, the chief beneficiary will be world champion Michael Schumacher. The Ferrari driver has not recorded a win or a podium finish in the opening three races of the season and under the existing Brazilian GP result stands 18 points adrift of Kimi Raikkonen.
After last weekend's race Schumacher admitted: "It would have been better for my chances of the championship if Fisichella had won. And he did drive a great race."
McLaren boss Ron Dennis is also likely to regret his magnanimity towards the Irish team after the race. Upon hearing of the awarding of the race to his driver, Raikkonen, Dennis said: "Our commiserations but admiration to the Jordan team, whose sporting behaviour after the race was a credit to them and to the sport. You can't take anything away from Fisichella - he's done very, very well."
On Friday it looks like nothing will be taken away from Fisichella, while Raikkonen's championship lead will be cut by two points, leaving him nine points clear of team-mate David Coulthard.
