Sunday June 18th, 2000

Benetton's one-stop pit strategy in the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday paid dividends with Giancarlo Fisichella finishing third.

Benetton had Fisichella and Alexander Wurz, who was ninth, make one stop to both refuel and change from dry to wet tyres as rain began to fall heavily on the 4.4-km Gilles-Villeneuve circuit.

"The strategy was obviously for a one-pit stop and my car was carrying maximum fuel, a lot," Fisichella said after the race, won by Ferrari's Michael Schumacher in a one-two finish with team mate Rubens Barrichello.

"At the beginning, it was quite difficult, so I drove quite a safe race. When it started to rain quite heavily, I called my engineers to ask them for wet tyres," Fisichella said.

"They called me in one lap later, and that was the right moment."

One hitch for Fisichella, whose finish was his fourth podium placing in the Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal, came near the end of the race when he was pressured from behind by McLaren's Mika Hakkinen. The Italian went off slightly at the first corner before surviving the spin.

"We had started the race with very low downforce settings and in the wet conditions it was difficult to drive the car," he said.

Benetton managing director Flavio Briatore acclaimed a "good race and a great result".

"The team did an excellent job and used an excellent strategy. Fisichella brought home a podium in what were very difficult conditions for the drivers," he said.

Wurz said he was called into the pits immediately behind Fisichella, but his tyres were not ready, causing a long pit stop. Later, the Austrian clashed with McLaren's David Coulthard at the first corner, which cost Wurz seventh spot.