A fascinating twist has emerged in the story behind one of Formula 1's most unlikely victories.
Giancarlo Fisichella famously capitalised on the rain chaos at the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix to take a shock maiden F1 triumph.
But his success was only secured in an FIA hearing several days after the race, following confusion over a timekeeping error - which was only resolved thanks to Fisichella's Jordan team presenting some key data.
However, it has now been revealed that the critical evidence delivered on that day nearly got lost thanks to a hire car error in Brazil.
The background
Fisichella, driving for a Jordan team that was past its peak, appeared to have lost out to McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen at Interlagos when the race was red-flagged late on following two major crashes that blocked the circuit.
But it later emerged that an error had been made in what lap the timekeepers judged Fisichella to be on.
The original result had been declared based on Fisichella being on lap 55 when the red flag came out.
So on countback, which took the positions from two laps prior, that meant Raikkonen won as he was leading on lap 53.
However, Jordan was convinced that Fisichella had begun lap 56 when the red flag was called out. Therefore, on countback, the result should have been declared on lap 54 - when Fisichella was ahead.
Following discussions between the Jordan team and F1 race director Charlie Whiting on the Sunday evening, the FIA concluded that there was some discrepancy with the timekeeping information and that there were grounds to open a proper investigation into what happened.
A meeting was called by Whiting for the Friday after the Brazilian GP to discuss the matter with timekeepers and stewards.
Jordan provided critical evidence with timing data it had downloaded off the car's electronic control unit that showed Fisichella had started lap 56 around 12 seconds before the red flag came out.
As then team boss Eddie Jordan wrote in his autobiography: "We were able to provide the evidence. Back at the factory, Mark Cormican, our excellent IT guy, had devised a way of downloading the timing pages during the race. We put the relevant information on a CD and sent it to Charlie Whiting."
Hire car blunder
A fascinating extra twist to the story emerged only this Wednesday, however, with one of the Jordan team's key figures revealing ahead of this weekend’s Brazilian GP that the squad nearly lost the ECU on the evening of the race.
Without the data, its case to get the Brazilian result overturned would have been considerably weakened.
Andy Stevenson, who is now Aston Martin sporting director, was chief mechanic at the time and recalls how Jordan came close to disaster.
Speaking in Aston Martin's Brazilian GP preview, Stevenson said: "We were fairly convinced we'd won the race, but we needed to prove our case, so we took the ECU from Giancarlo's car to present at a hearing, and that evidence was enough for us to be awarded victory.
"What people perhaps don't know about that story is the person looking after the ECU left it in a suitcase in one of the hire vehicles we'd used that weekend, assuming we were also using them to get to the airport...which we weren't.
"So, while we were at our hotel celebrating what was then a podium that we were confident would become a win, it dawned on us the hire vehicle had been taken away.
"It took us about six hours to relocate that vehicle and recover the ECU."
Delayed podium
The decision by the FIA to award Fisichella the win days after the race meant he never got to savour his triumph on the podium.
To partly make up for it, a special ceremony was arranged at the following race at Imola for Raikkonen to handover his winner's trophy to Fisichella.
Reflecting on how he found out that he had won, Fisichella said at the time: "I was very nervous. It was around midnight, I was waiting for the answer, then around 12a15am they called me and said, 'Giancarlo, you are the winner!' It was fantastic.
"I already thought this was the case, and the team believed it straight away and then, in recent days, when the evidence was examined, we knew it was true and hoped it would become official.
"It was very difficult for me, with the confusion after the race, and I'm still disappointed that I didn't have my moment at the top of the podium, but I am pleased that it is clear now that I have won my first grand prix.
"The damage remains. I would have been the first Italian to win in 11 years and I was not able to stand on the top step. But it's still a win that will go down in Formula 1 history, and I got there in difficult conditions, in a car that is not a winning one."
While the Brazil win was Fisichella's first triumph in F1, it was also the last for Jordan.
It struggled for performance over the remainder of 2003 and in the following campaign, and the squad was sold to Midland ahead of the 2005 season before being renamed the following year.
