F1 Racing Famous Drivers
Giancarlo Fisichella
In 2001 the car was not fast and was very unbalanced just like he did against his previous team mates he unqualified and out scored Jenson Button regularly through out the season. Despite of this and a podium at Spa Flavio Briatore dropped him and he returned to Jordan.
However the 2002 Jordan was worse than ever, and Fisichella and team-mate Takuma Sato struggled to score points. Incredibly Fisichella won the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2003 in controversial circumstances. Having passed Kimi Raikkonen on lap fifty-one the race was red-flagged on lap fifty-three. A mistake by stewards saw Raikkonen handed the victory, only for the decision to be overturned a week after the race. It wasn't the way Fisichella wanted to win his first Grand Prix, but at least he had a victory.
With no more points in 2003 apart from 2 in Indianapolis Fisichella left Jordan to join Sauber. He scored points more regularly, but never reached the high point of 2003. It would be his only season at Sauber.
Renault beckoned. It all started well with Fisichella who took his victory first time out in Australia. However, since then Fisichella has struggled to match his team-mate, Fernando Alonso. In fact, this is the first time since 1996 where the Italian has been outperformed by a team-mate. Some say he may leave and join Williams for 2006 however Fisichella will be out to prove a point in the remaining races of 2005.
As Fisichella found his stride, he began to outpace team-mate Ralf Schumacher, and in the German GP he narrowly missed out on pole, and was on course for victory when a damaged tire caused him to crash with just seven laps of the race remaining.
Fisichella moved to Benetton in 1998 after Briatore went to court in order to take up his option on the Italian, and Giancarlo claimed his only ever pole at the Austrian GP that season. Although he had hoped for an improvement, niggling mechanical problems hindered his results, but he did manage to score back-to-back podiums in Monaco and Canada. He stayed with Benetton for four years, and although his relationship with Briatore publicly soured during 2000, he continued to score points for the team when the car allowed. 2001 found Giancarlo continuing to struggle with competitiveness, but the highlight of a difficult season saw him take his ninth career podium at the Belgian GP.
For 2002 Giancarlo 'swapped' drives with fellow countryman Jarno Trulli, but it's hard to say who got the best end of the deal. On paper, and in pre-season testing, the EJ12 looked good but the fact that designer Eghbal Hamidy parted company with the Silverstone outfit just a few weeks into the season is a good indication of the problems facing the Roman.
Sadly Giancarlo's 2003 World Championship result (12th) was his worst since he came into F1 in 1996 with Minardi. Despite a fortuitous - but well deserved - win at Interlagos, 2003 was a season the Roman will want to forget as soon as possible.
Strong performances in Canada, Britain and Belgium saw the Italian amass 22 points and end the year 11th in the drivers' championship.
Apart from Fisichella's determination and commitment, the other reason for the team's (relative) success in 2004, was due to its qualifying strategy, whereby Fisi would go out on full tanks and still qualify at the right end of the grid. Furthermore, despite (twice) losing ten grid places as a result of engine problems, the Italian managed to make up for the deficit, finishing ahead of his teammate.
For 2005 Fisichella returned to Renault, where he lined up alongside Fernando Alonso, creating one of the season's most exciting driver pairings. In 2006 there can be no excuses, no talk of bad luck or lack of pace. There is a new order of rising talent and if Fisichella is to remain with a top-flight team he must seize every opportunity.