SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS: Giancarlo Fisichella gave Force India an astonishing first pole position while Formula One championship leader Jenson Button qualified only 14th for the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday.
While Force India has yet to score a point in 29 races, the 36-year-old from Rome has been first on the grid thrice before - he last started on pole with Renault in Malaysia in 2006.
Fisichella's teammate Adrian Sutil qualified 11th.
''It's amazing. It's fantastic. I'm so happy about that... I didn't expect that result,'' said the Italian, who side-stepped a suggestion that his car might be fuelled lighter than those behind him.
''This is one of my favourite circuits... But I didn't expect to be on pole. We made a big step forward from the last race,'' he added.
Toyota's Jarno Trulli made it an all-Italian front row, with German Nick Heidfeld third for struggling BMW-Sauber.
Brawn GP's Button failed to make it into the top 10 for the first time this season and will have a fight on his hands to come away with any points on Sunday while teammate and closest title rival Rubens Barrichello, who is 18 points adrift with six races remaining after winning the previous race in Valencia last weekend, qualified fourth.
Red Bull's Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, third and fourth in the standings respectively, filled the ninth and eighth places on the grid.
Ferrari's Badoer last
Italian Luca Badoer's days as stand-in for injured Ferrari driver Felipe Massa looked numbered when the 38-year-old spun into the gravel and qualified last for the second race in a row. Teammate Kimi Raikkonen starts sixth.
Fisichella has already made clear that he would love to take Badoer's place.
''It's a dream for a driver in Formula One to drive for Ferrari, especially for an Italian driver like me... but I'm just concentrating on Force India and the race tomorrow,'' he told a news conference. ''For sure, my result is something incredible. It's a great day, but I want to do the best and just concentrate on the race tomorrow.''
While Force India was the quickest of the Mercedes-powered teams, McLaren endured a nightmare afternoon at a circuit that has favoured it heavily in the past. World champion Lewis Hamilton qualified 12th with Finnish teammate Heikki Kovalainen 15th.
The qualifying results: 1. Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India-Mercedes) 1 min 46.308 secs, 2. Jarno Trulli (Toyota) 1:46.395, 3. Nick Heidfeld (BMW-Sauber) 1:46.500, 4. Rubens Barrichello (Brawn-Mercedes) 1:46.513, 5. Robert Kubica (BMW-Sauber) 1:46.586, 6. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1:46.633, 7. Timo Glock (Toyota) 1:46.677, 8. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) 1:46.761, 9. Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) 1:46.788, 10. Nico Rosberg (Williams-Toyota) 1:47.362, 11. Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) 1:45.119, 12. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:45.122, 13. Fernando Alonso (Renault) 1:45.136, 14. Jenson Button (Brawn-Mercedes) 1:45.251, 15. Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:45.259, 16. Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 1:45.951, 17. Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 1:46.032, 18. Kazuki Nakajima (Williams-Toyota) 1:46.307, 19. Romain Grosjean (Renault) 1:46.359, 20. Luca Badoer (Ferrari) 1:46.957.
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