Giancarlo Fisichella
Giancarlo Fisichella ( born January 14, 1973 in Rome ) is an Italian race car driver and racing entrepreneur.
He rode from 1996 to 2009 in Formula 1, winning three races there. His best Overall rank he achieved in 2006 with the fourth World Cup ranking. Fisichella is 229 Formula 1 starts one of eleven drivers who have disputed over 200 Grand Prix races. From mid- 2009 to 2012 Fisichella was the Italian team Ferrari tradition under contract and was there from 2010 test and reserve driver.
1994 Fisichella was Italian Formula 3 champion.
- 3.1 Career stations
- 3.2 Statistics in Formula 1 3.2.1 Grand Prix wins
- 3.2.2 Individual Results
Driving career
Beginnings in motorsport
From 1984 to 1988 Fisichella took part in the Mini Kart Championship in Italy, he was second in 1989 at the European Kart Championship. A year later he was already second in the World Championship in the same category. After another karting successes in 1992, he moved to Formula racing and participated for the first time in the Italian Formula 3 Championship in part. He finished the season in eighth place, he finished second in 1993. Finally, he won the 1994 Italian Formula 3 Championship with ten wins. In 1995 he participated in the German Touring Car Championship ( DTM ) and the International Touring Car Championship (ITC ) in part to Alfa Romeo. He was tenth in the ITC and 15th in the DTM. He distinguished himself so that the Minardi Formula 1 team offered him a cockpit for the 1996 season. In parallel, he played the entire season of ITC and finished with six podium finishes in sixth place overall.
Formula 1
Minardi (1996 )
On March 10, 1996 Fisichella debuted at the Australian Grand Prix in Formula 1, but retired with clutch failure from. In seven other race, the Italian could hardly set the scene due to the inferior material. After the Grand Prix of Great Britain, he had his cockpit for the equipped with plenty of sponsorship money Giovanni Lavaggi vacate and was limited for the rest of the year on more missions in the ITC and as a test driver for Ferrari. For the 1997 season, team owner Eddie Jordan decided to offer the young Italian a regular place in one of his race cars. Fisichella took the offer.
Jordan I (1997)
As a teammate to the Romans of the German debutant Ralf Schumacher was set aside. Because the Jordan team had built a fast and reliable long-distance car, both drivers had the opportunity to achieve and to recommend in this way for better things good results. After start of the season Schumacher had a slight advantage over Fisichella, the Italians surpassed the Germans later than mid-season. At the Grand Prix of Germany, Fisichella qualified surprising for the second place and leading the race a short time before he had to the Austrian Gerhard Berger bend and give up later with a technical defect. At the latest after the Romans finished second behind Michael Schumacher as a driver on the known -distance track of Spa -Francorchamps in the pouring rain, he was regarded as the greatest young talent of the season. With 20 points, he finished eighth in the championship and was bought back by Benetton team boss Flavio Briatore for next season. Both Jordan as well as Benetton laid claim to Fisichella's services for the 1998 season. After negotiations with the Contract Recognition Board and later in the High Court in London Fisichella Benetton was awarded.
Benetton (1998-2001)
However, the team Benetton could not go on past successes. Briatore left the management of the Englishman David Richards, Renault had retired as an engine supplier and some technicians had migrated to the competition. Fisichella was again a newbie as a teammate: The Austrian Alexander Wurz, who had previously been a test driver for Benetton and 1997 had the diseased Gerhard Berger successfully represented for three races. To victory and the fight for the championship but we could not go. The Italians made it in 1998, although three times on the podium and took his first pole position out in the chaotic qualifying session at the A1-Ring, but could be in the final bill from the previous year do not improve. In 1999, things did not go better: the Benetton cars were too slow and the customer engines from Supertec too weak, so it was only enough to irregular point rankings for Fisichella.
After also the year 2000, no increase allowed, experts talked about that Fisichella's talent was wasted. But Fisichella was also in the 2001 season at Benetton. He promised himself solely on improvement that Renault was officially returned as an engine supplier and should take over the Benetton team a year later. And Briatore again took over the position of team leader. Nevertheless reached Fisichella and his new team- mate Jenson Button in the first half of the season with difficulty top ten finishes, and came at the Grand Prix of Germany through many failures of the first season points. At Spa -Francorchamps in Belgium succeeded Fisichella surprising to take third place. Briatore Fisichella offered a contract extension, but without increasing in the remuneration of the Italian. Fisichella rejected with the note from the lack of respect Briatore before his performance, and the long period of suffering in not sufficiently competitive Benetton racers. His former team boss Eddie Jordan on the other hand offered Fisichella to a well-paid contract for two years, which the Romans immediately wrote. He cherished the hope that in the future to have better chances of getting top rankings with the factory-backed Honda Jordan.
Jordan II (2002-2003)
However, Fisichella's return came at a difficult time for the team in which it was under pressure to justify the success of previous years and the support of engine supplier Honda. The Jordan 2002 was aerodynamically too complicated. Fisichella and his Japanese teammate Takuma Satō could rarely retract points, so that Honda withdrew as a working partner of Jordan at the end of the year as expected and entirely focused on the competition team BAR. For the 2003 season, the team had to buy customer Ford engines. The team went financially poor, so that was required, as second driver of the Irish- British Ralph Firman, who was hardly noticed in junior formulas by success, but brought a lot of money. Ironically, in this unfavorable situation succeeded Fisichella his first victory in the chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix when he enemy overtook in the rain to opponents and passed through a pit stop of the leading Kimi Raikkonen to the top before the race due to severe accidents by Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso was terminated. For next season, Peter Sauber gave him a place in his team, which he assumed to lack of better alternatives.
Clean (2004)
During the 2004 season Fisichella could regularly compete for championship points again when the Sauber C23 also was not able to victories or podiums. Attention gave the Italians in particular that he had traded his great talent as a team-mate Felipe Massa at any time under control. At the Grand Prix of Great Britain, he started out from last place and was with a brim fueled car in sixth, which earned him the recognition of his colleagues and the press. As Flavio Briatore the Italian Jarno Trulli at the top team Renault ausbootete and Fisichella offered the Renault cockpit from 2005, this immediately said yes.
Renault (2005-2007)
Fisichella at Renault in 2005 came on the Spaniard Fernando Alonso. The winter tests indicated in advance that the Renault R25 was a car capable of winning. For the first time in his long career of Italians so sat in a top-notch car. The opening race in Australia could Fisichella then also win, while Alonso was third after some problems. However, after Fisichella was the first time his teammates not beat regularly and was clearly surpassed by the Spaniards during the season. While Alonso became world champions, Fisichella finished the season as fifth in the championship standings. On his favorite track Suzuka he still had to make a lap to go to Kimi Raikkonen certain victory.
For 2006, he promised to improve and justified his first season in the Renault team and the switch to Michelin tires with the acclimatization. But in the second year, his team-mate Alonso achieved better results, won seven races and won his second world title, while Fisichella had to be satisfied with a win and a regular front points standings. In final standings he was able to improve on fourth place. As Alonso left the team in the direction of McLaren to Fisichella established the world title as the destination for the 2007 season. Even in winter he had to revise again after it was clear that the R27 was a bad design and was not fit to Siegen his statement. His new team-mate Heikki Kovalainen Fisichella could beat significantly in the first half of the season in the internal duel in the second half of this was the Italians, however, noticeably behind. While the Finn now regularly scored and the Grand Prix of Japan at Fuji went out as the only second podium for Renault this season, to Fisichella could hardly set the scene. He finished the season with 21 points in eighth place - a place behind Kovalainen.
After Flavio Briatore his next year's driver line-up also after the season not yet want to commit, the observers was clear that Fisichella would get a new contract at Renault. On 10 December 2007, Renault announced actually that you 'll start 2008 with returnees Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet junior.
Force India (2008-2009)
Lack of alternatives, Fisichella sought a cockpit in the new Force India Formula One Team and participated in test drives for the Indian team. In these tests Fisichella won with the fastest time by all participants. On 10 January 2008 he was finally beside Adrian Sutil as a regular driver for the 2008 season officially confirmed.
At the start of the season surprised Fisichella with two twelfth and tenth. In the further course of the season he was left behind these services and had no championship points. In the rainy qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix he reached the 12th place, which he was ahead of the reigning world champion Raikkonen and the championship leader Lewis Hamilton. This was the first time that a Force India was able to advance to the second qualifying session. In the overall standings Fisichella was due to better individual results of his team-mate Sutil behind, finishing in 19th place in the drivers' standings.
For the 2009 season Force India moved from Ferrari to Mercedes engines, which were as a mobile and reliable. First, however, the year began, as the old one had ceased: in the back of the pack. Until the middle of the season, neither Fisichella nor his team-mate Sutil could retract championship points. From the Grand Prix of Germany a clear upward trend was evident and both riders qualified regularly in the upper middle. At the Grand Prix of Belgium Fisichella drove surprisingly on the pole position - the first for Force India. In addition, he won the race in which he had to give up almost beaten the Ferrari driver Raikkonen, second in the first podium for the Indian team and achieved beyond the first World Championship points for the team at all.
Ferrari ( 2009)
Soon after Fisichella's appearance in Belgium launched the trade press, the first rumors that he disappointing Luca Badoer, who was again standing in for the casualties in Hungary team driver Felipe Massa from the Grand Prix of Italy, could replace at Ferrari. On 3 September 2009, this rumor was finally officially confirmed by Ferrari. Fisichella denied the remaining five races of the season for Ferrari, without get championship points.
GT racing (since 2010)
2010 Fisichella moved into the GT sports the Ferrari factory team AF Corse. In the Le Mans Series, he and his team-mate Jean Alesi and Toni Vilander runner up in the LMGT2 category. In addition, the three pilots competed in the 24 -hour race of Le Mans and finished fourth in the GT2 class. In addition, he took part in three races in the American Le Mans Series ( ALMS) and was in the Formula 1 season 2010 test and reserve driver for the Scuderia Ferrari. 2011 Fisichella remained in AF Corse in the Le Mans Series. Together with his team-mate Gianmaria Bruni, he twice won the LMGTE -Pro - rating and was eventually together with Bruni winner in this classification. In addition, he participated in two races in the ALMS, where he once won the GT championship, as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in which he scored the second in the LMGTE -Pro - rating together with Bruni and Vilander, at. In addition, Fisichella 2011 was another season Formula 1 test driver for Ferrari.
2012 was a test driver for Ferrari Fisichella.
Entrepreneurial career
Between 2006 and 2009 the team Fisichella Motorsport (FMS ) competed in the Super League, in the Formula BMW and in the GP2 series. In the GP2 commitment it was a collaboration with Coloni Motorsport from Perugia. The operation was financed in large part by Fisichella, while Coloni was responsible for the daily organization. In July 2009, Fisichella separated by Coloni; GP2 team was shortly afterwards renamed Scuderia Coloni Racing Party Poker. The other racing activities of FMS have also been taken over by Coloni.
Statistics
Career stations
- 2010: ALMS, GT2 ( 24th place )
- 2010: Formula 1 ( test driver )
- 2011: Le Mans Series, LMGTE -Pro ( Master )
- 2011: ALMS, GT
- 2011: Formula 1 ( test driver )
- 2012: WEC ( place 52)
- 2012: Superstars Series ( No. 34 )
- 2012: Rolex Sports Car Series GT
- 2012: Formula 1 ( test driver )
- 2013: WEC, GT
- 2013: Rolex Sports Car Series GT
Statistics in Formula 1
Grand Prix victories
- 2003 Brazil Grand Prix of Brazil ( Interlagos )
- 2005 Australia Australian Grand Prix (Melbourne )
- 2006 Malaysia Grand Prix of Malaysia ( Sepang )