This amazing race proved to be the scene of Giancarlo's first, and long overdue, victory. At a wet Interlagos the Italian drove a sensational race, staying on the track when others crashed, and eventually crossing the line in front. Unfortunately a safety car period just before the end of the race led to a miscalculation by the timekeepers that meant initially the win was awarded to
Kimi Raikkonen. Later the
FIA rectified the situation, and Giancarlo received his trophy in a ceremony at the next race in Imola.
“I drove very well. We were a bit lucky, but I'd done everything perfectly. When I crossed the line my engineer was happy, he told me you are the winner, so I was really, really pleased about that. I don't know why, but by mistake they gave me the second place. So I couldn't celebrate my first victory on the top of the podium in Brazil. It was quite bad, really disappointing.”
For 2004 Giancarlo went to Sauber. His plan was to show what he could do, and bounce back into a front running team. The strategy worked perfectly.
“Sauber was a midfield team, but sometimes we were quite solid, quite competitive. I scored points quite often, I was usually quicker than
Felipe Massa, so it was a good season. I did a few races where people could see my speed and in the middle of the season I was in contact with
Williams and
Renault. Flavio gave me a good offer, a two-year contract with Renault. It was a good moment, because in 2005 and 2006 we were competitive, and we won two World Championships.”
After his three years away the renamed former Benetton team was very different, but Giancarlo started in perfect fashion by winning first time out in Australia. After that it became more difficult, as
Fernando Alonso was well established in the camp.
“Australia was a great weekend. It was fantastic, straight away winning with a new team at the first race, and pole position. Then during the season I had a few mechanical problems, and I couldn't score enough points to fight for the championship, especially at the beginning of the season.
