Force India return empty-handed from Japanese GP

The 14th lap brush with Heikki Kovalainen's McLaren compromised Adrian Sutil's race and the double finish was hardly a solace as Force India completed its Japanese Grand Prix campaign without a single point.

Considering Sutil's familiarity with the layout and its low-to-medium downforce suiting the car, it was a blown opportunity for Sutil who finished 13th, just ahead of teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi, who managed to improve on his unflattering 19th position on the starting grid.

Sebastian Vettel drove a copybook race at Suzuka to win the Japanese Grand Prix and stay afloat in the 2009 championship chase.

Jarno Trulli was second for Toyota, with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton following him at third.

Starting eight on the grid after copping a five-place penalty for Saturday's chaotic qualifying, Sutil took on a speeding Kovalainen coming into the chicane on lap 14.

Team chairman Vijay Mallya did not hide his disappointment at missing points.

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Fisichella delivers Force India's first F1 points

After 29 false starts, the Vijay Mallya-owned Force India finally nixed the hoodoo and scored their maiden Formula One points with Giancarlo Fisichella finishing second in the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The 36-year-old Italian driver, rumoured to have one foot in Ferrari, shunned extravagance to run a flawless race and trailed Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari, which had snatched the lead using the Kinetic Energy Recovery System, all the way for a podium finish and earn eight valuable points.

The Italian finished less than a second behind Raikkonen.

Fisichella's Force India teammate Adrian Sutil had a rather rollercoaster outing with the German eventually finishing 11th.

With this, Fisichella renewed his tryst with Spa, which has traditionally been benign to him.

It was at the same track in 1997 that Fisichella had finished second in a Jordan car.

For a car without the KERS boost, Fisichella displayed amazing racecraft in a race marked and marred by opening lap pile-up, early safety car and pit-stop fumbles.

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