Fisichella 3rd fastest in Monza test

Monza, Italy:

Force India could not have asked for a better sign-off as Giancarlo Fisichella ran a faultless 114 laps and posted the third fastest time of the day to cap the outfit's three-day Monza testing for the Italian Grand Prix here.

Fisichella continued the evaluation of set-ups and wing levels specifically for his home Grand Prix, together with work to optimise balance and braking over the kerbs.

Once again, the VJM01 ran faultlessly, allowing the Italian to complete 114 laps -- more than 600km -- and bring the total test mileage to over 1,700km.

"Today we made some positive steps forward for the Italian Grand Prix, particularly with the balance and set-up," an elated Fisichella later said.

"I could push, particularly in the afternoon and the pace over the longer runs was also good. You never know what the other teams are doing with their own programmes, but I think the race will be very close between us and Honda. I think we've made good progress here," he said.

The team will now return to its Silverstone headquarters to integrate the test's findings into its race preparations for the Italian Grand Prix and the next event on the calendar, the Belgian Grand Prix, in just over a week's time.

"It was a very positive end to the test, with again good reliability. We've had a very productive week here, completing all our programme and accumulating some useful information to prepare for the Italian Grand Prix," chief race and test engineer Dominic Harlow said.