Giancarlo Fisichella
A quiet and easy-going Italian, Giancarlo Fisichella was surrounded by cars from an early age, when he played among the machines in his father's garage workshop. By the time he was ten, he was competing in the national Minikart series and he soon progressed through the karting ranks, becoming runner-up in both the World and Intercontinental Championship series, only misfortune denying him the ultimate prize.
Moving up to Italian F3 in 1992, Fisichella spent two seasons learning his trade before switching to the official RC Motorsport team. Giancarlo then simply scorched away from the opposition, winning ten of the twenty rounds of the series and adding the prestigious one-off Monaco and Macau races to his impressive CV.
Obviously a talent to watch, Fisichella was snapped up by Minardi on a long-term contract and given the test driver role for 1995 while he gained experience and polished his race craft in the ITC with an Alfa Romeo 156. Another full season in the high-tech category was successfully completed in 1996, but of greater significance was his Grand Prix baptism with Minardi. Joining the rather more seasoned Pedro Lamy in the Faenza squad, Fisichella immediately showed the speed to eclipse his team-mate, but the young lions blotted their copybooks by colliding on the opening lap at Monaco when points were there for the taking. Fisichella was obliged to make way for Giovanni Lavaggi after the British GP, but his stock was high enough for him to be placed in the Jordan team for 1997 alongside rookie Ralf Schumacher. Certainly it was Giancarlo who looked the brighter prospect with some mature and accomplished performances and the fact that his season tailed off somewhat was no barrier to the young Italian's transfer to Benetton after a contract wrangle between Jordan and Flavio Briatore was settled in court.
Fisichella undoubtedly brought a new sense of purpose to Benetton in 1998 and his two second places in Monaco and Montreal showed that here was a potential Grand Prix winner of the future. His second term presented a similar picture: occasional outstanding performances mixed with lacklustre showings when he failed to cut the mustard.
Fisichella decided that, having reached the bottom, Benetton could only go up in 2000 and, consequently, found himself paired with Wurz for a third season. The new B200 looked a definite improvement over its predecessor, and both drivers hoped to see more of the top six, only to be cruelly denied by a mid-season slump in form. Fisi began the year well, inheriting second on David Coulthard's DSQ in Brazil, and then visiting the podium again in both Monaco and Canada. He ended the year being overshadowed by the formerly lacklustre Wurz, however.
Benetton and Fisichella decided to stick with each other into 2001, and the Italian found himself partnered by 2000 season wunderkind Jenson Button, on loan from Williams for two years. If that wasn't enough of an incentive to push harder that year, ‘Fisi’ also wanted to impress Renault bosses sufficiently to be considered a potential employee for 2002. As things turned out, it wasn't to be, although Fisichella comprehensively out-performed Button in the first two-thirds of the season, as the British driver struggled to settle into Flavio Briatore's regime. Despite scoring a podium finish against the odds in Belgium, and taking eleventh in points, however, Fisi was already signing papers to take him back to Jordan for 2002.
The Silverstone team provided a more settled environment for the Italian and he quickly re-acquainted himself with faces familiar from his debut season in F1. Armed with the latest Honda engine - and ranged against another young upstart in British F3 champion Takuma Sato – Giancarlo was hopeful that he could score regular points and even grab the odd podium on occasion.
It was though far from an easy season, as the Jordan team struggled financially and Giancarlo was forced to settle for three fifth places - coming one after the other in Austria, Monaco and Canada - and one-sixth place at the Hungarian GP. Other than that, it was a pretty dreary year, with eight retirements and little to smile about. He also missed the French Grand Prix following a heavy crash in practice prior to qualifying.
If Fisi hoped that 2003 would be a step forward, and that the now Ford-powered Jordan would help him to more points finishes, he was sadly mistaken. More often than not, he was struggling in the midfield rather than pushing for points, but an awful season had one good point, as Fisichella found himself in the right place at the right time when Fernando Alonso decided to ignore yellow flags in Brazil and caused the race to be brought to a premature end. The Roman took his maiden F1 win to provide Jordan with a little sunshine on a very grey season, although, initially, Kimi Räikkönen was declared the winner and a dejected Fisichella was awarded second place on the podium. However, in the week after the race, stewards admitted they had made an error and that, on countback, the Italian had indeed been the leader. Fourteen days later he got his hands on his winners' trophy, although he missed out on spraying the champagne from the top step.
The following season, Fisichella moved to Sauber in an attempt to restore his reputation as a front-line driver, and did enough to impress many up and down the pit-lane. There may have been no major highs, but Giancarlo was consistently there or thereabouts thanks to some good driving and a solid car. His reward was nine points finishes, five in succession towards the end of the year, and a best result of fourth in Canada. The Italian scored 22 points to finish eleventh overall in the drivers' standings.
His form was enough to convince both Flavio Briatore and Frank Williams that they wanted him for 2005, with the Italian eventually opting to go back to Renault. His season started in the best possible way with a stunning victory in the Australian Grand Prix, but niggling problems then dogged his title challenge and he was soon overshadowed by his team mate Fernando Alonso who steamed ahead to take the World Championship. Nonetheless on his day he is still a serious contender for victory, although the closest he was to come was a Suzuka where he was sensationally defeated on the final lap by Kimi Räikkönen.
For 2006 Fisichella had the unenviable task of matching his champion team mate Alonso. His performances were once again typically uneven. An early season flag-to-flag win in Malaysia was the undoubted highlight, and a number of classy performances such as in Catalunya, Indianapolis, and Monza helped him to an eventual fourth place in the championship. With the departure of Alonso to McLaren, Giancarlo assumed the mantle of team leader in the final year of his contract with Renault partnered by the talented but unproven Heikki Kovalainen as a team mate.
‘Fisi’ may have felt a he good shot at winning the World Championship, but sadly team lost their way in the wind tunnel and struggled to adapt to their enforced change to Bridgestone tyres. The result was a less than competitive Renault R27 that struggle even to achieve a podium position. A reasonable early season point’s haul ensured that Giancarlo would finish eighth in the 2007 points table, but he was a place behind his teammate who had finished the year strongly.
Once it became clear that Renault would not be renewing his contract the veteran of 194 starts appeared to be heading for enforced retirement. However, determined to prolong his Grand Prix career, the Italian tested impressively for the renamed Force India Team. The new team appear to be well-funded, courtesy of billionaire owner Vijay Mallya, and with sufficient resources in place, Fisichella’s vast experience will be invaluable in helping to push the team forward.
