Third in the championship - Fisico

The Renault F1 Team’s Italian, Giancarlo Fisichella, climbed to third in the championship this afternoon after his third place in the Chinese Grand Prix. Fisichella has 63 points and that is only 1 point more than rival Felipe Massa.

"I made a good start with a heavy fuel load in the car, because we had decided to fuel the car a lot in qualifying. So it was hard to find the right grip, and my main aim was to make sure the car stayed on the track. Raikkonen was very quick at that point but much lighter on fuel. And when I made my first stop, we decided to keep the same set of tyres on."

"Yes. When I came out of the pits, the balance was perfect. I was really enjoying myself at that point, when the car became really competitive. I was the quickest car on track, I got past Fernando and I took the lead."

"Schumacher was very close to me and stopped to change tyres. I did the same one lap later, but the tyres were not up to temperature, I lost grip in the first corner and he got past – although I tried to close the door. After that, we turned the engine down for the next race."

"Yes because I am leaving China third in the championship, and Renault is back in the lead of the constructors’ championship. Now, we need to give our maximum for the final two races…"