“I was comfortable, but not as much as I used to be, with the electronics, with the traction control. Fernando was usually quicker than me, but sometimes I was quicker than him.”
Giancarlo was stronger in 2006, and won from pole in Malaysia. He finished fourth in the World Championship, but ultimately he was disappointed: “I had a good feeling straight away, but again problems with the car, mechanical, technical, same as 2005.”
When Alonso moved to
McLaren Giancarlo had good reason to think that 2007 would be his season, but the
Renault was not competitive.
“Unfortunately the car wasn't as quick as the previous year, the downforce of the car was completely wrong, the speed compared with McLaren and
Ferrari was not good enough. So it was very disappointing, and it was a tough season. Monaco was the only good one, fourth in qualifying, fourth in the race.”
At the end of the year Giancarlo signed for
Force India and to date he has already demonstrated that he is as fast as ever.
“It was a good but difficult decision. I was moving from a top team to a new team, which in the last couple of seasons had been on the last rows. But so far we have done a fantastic job. We have made a big step forward, and I am really enjoying it. It's really encouraging. We've still got a lot of work to do, but we are getting closer.”
At the age of 35, and now in his 13th season, Giancarlo is as motivated as ever.
“I don't think I've changed much, but I hope I am a better driver than when I started. I've learned quite a lot, how to manage the race, how to manage the qualifying session, and to put more attention on testing and talking with the engineers and mechanics.
“I still feel young, I still feel happy to work in F1, to be an F1 driver. The only problem is travelling around the world all the time! But apart from that, I still enjoy
F1. I wouldn't still be here if I didn't.”
