Giancarlo Fisichella confirmed at Ferrari
Giancarlo Fisichella is probably still grinning like this in his sleep
Giancarlo Fisichella will drive for Ferrari in his home Grand Prix at Monza next weekend, the team has confirmed.
He will be the first Italian to drive for Ferrari in his home Grand Prix at Monza since Ivan Capelli in 1992.
Nicola Larini finished second for Ferrari in the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola in Italy in 1994.
As reported here yesterday, Fisichella’s seat at Force India is expected to be taken by Vitantonio Liuzzi.
Force India boss Vijay Mallya had denied the rumours earlier this week, even when team member Ian Phillips confirmed them to the BBC on Monday.
The last Italian to win the Italian Grand Prix was Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966, driving for Ferrari. Can Fisichella become the first driver to emulate his feat in 43 years?
First pictures – Fisichella at Ferrari
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- Giancarlo Fisichella, Ferrari, 2009
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- Giancarlo Fisichella, Ferrari, 2009
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- Rob Smedly, Giancarlo Fisichella, Ferrari, 2009
D Winn said on 3rd September 2009, 16:36
Ironic that Fisi (Ex-Renault team mate) will get in a red car before Fernando
Paul said on 3rd September 2009, 17:14
That’s not ironic.
Meander said on 3rd September 2009, 17:19
It is when it’s Alonso who has been pulling all the stops to get the seat!
Martin said on 4th September 2009, 1:11
Correct.. thats karma..It would be even better if fisi takes off and wins a couple before the end of the year. That would put ferrari in a real conflict of which way to go.
Massa has proved he a competitive driver and yeas Kimi won the championship but massa scored good points that year also and last year he was on fire.
Now we know why ferrari wants 3 cars for next year..
-A- said on 3rd September 2009, 16:37
I think from the point of view of the team, this is a good choice, and as it was said here, having Fisichella as replacement driver, possibly keeping him on for testing in 2010 would leave them all opportunities open to still be able to achieve some results while they’re obviously going to be waiting to find out if and when Massa could be able to make a comeback. This would become even more important if, independently from what the rumour mill says, an Alonso transfer for 2010 would indeed not materialise.
craig said on 3rd September 2009, 16:39
I would have liked to see Force India score some more points at a couple more tracks they should do well at, but now I think that chance is gone with Fisi leaving. But I wish Fisi well and hope he puts it to Kimi.
mfDB said on 3rd September 2009, 17:35
You should read Kieth’s great article about Kimi’s career in video. Kimi has already ‘put it to’ Fisi…and the article didn’t even include Spa 09…
Dr Jones said on 3rd September 2009, 16:45
Good for Fisi. Looks like he beat Alonso first in moving into Ferrari. Or can we see a reunion of old teammates on the scarlet team in the future?
yahooza said on 3rd September 2009, 16:45
True is simple. Vj must pay for Ferrari engines which were used by Force India in 2008. Fisichella is a part of repayment.
gospeedracer said on 4th September 2009, 1:15
Is it true that VJ stills owes Ferrari for those engines? Otherwise, I’m interested in how easy it was for Fisi to get out of his Force India contract. Unless Fisi had a clause in there to allow him to move to Ferrari when the opportunity presented itself or if there was a payoff to VJ. Nonetheless I happy for Fisi. Hope he gets time to get familiar with KERS.
PJA said on 3rd September 2009, 16:46
I don’t think anyone is surprised that Ferrari have dropped Badoer and after all the recent speculation it seemed Fischella was favourite to replace him.
I thought Fisichella would only get the seat if he wasn’t going to join another F1 team after driving for Ferrari and was going to stay with Ferrari after this season, and Mallya’s comments in the Autosport article seem to suggest this. So he will most likely be the new Ferrari test driver and may get some races next year if Massa is not fit enough until mid season.
Massa getting injured has probably shown Ferrari they need a reserve driver who can fill in for the race drivers and not just be good at testing, so this makes sense on their part, but I thought Fisichella could have got a full time race seat next year if he wanted, but as has been mentioned driving for Ferrari will be a dream for him.
Maksutov said on 3rd September 2009, 17:16
True but after few years of testing those drivers are likely to become as useless as Badoer. The only thing that prevent(ed) teams of successfully replacing their drivers in the case of accidents or whatever, is the testing ban. Had the testing ban not been present we might have found out that Mark Gene was just as good as Fisi…
agreed.
Phil said on 3rd September 2009, 17:42
I don’t agree, Badoer was never particularly fast even when he had a full race seat. Fisi on the other hand has been consistently pretty quick over his entire career. OK, he was never no 1 driver material, but he’s definitely near the top of “best of the rest”.
Maksutov said on 4th September 2009, 16:05
Well I hope you are right, and Fisi retains his driving gift and ability for years to come. I am just worried that after sometime of being a test driver in a series with not many tests, this could change…
Either way I do hope that if Ferrari ever need a replacement again in the near future, for unforeseeable circumstances, that Fisi is indeed considered..
BS said on 3rd September 2009, 16:55
What the… I really don’t understand you people critisizing his move especially with regards to his racing future.
The guy was lighting up brighter than Raikkonen’s kers battery whenever somebody asked him about the prospects of landing a temporary drive at Ferrari. And he’ll be making his debut in both his and Ferrari’s home country to boot.
Of course this is the right decision. At the end of his racing career he gets a chance to drive at the most prestigious and best known F1 team there is, which also happens to be a lifelong childhood dream. With his current form and motivation, he might not even do that bad a job.
Some decisions are hard, this is one where you can spot from miles away that not going for it will be a decision you’ll regret for the rest of your life. Especialyl if he’s still around racing in an inferior Force India, being lapped by the F61 on a regular basis.
Paul said on 3rd September 2009, 17:17
http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2009/09/03/fisichella-to-be-ferrari-2010-test-driver/
Official.
Damon said on 3rd September 2009, 19:24
Wow, does that mean Luca Badoer has lost everything? :(
Quite disappointing for the guy.
All the greatest Ferrari succesess in the last decade were with Badoer developing the car as their test driver.
Ferrari didn’t need to change him for Fisichella.
vitor said on 3rd September 2009, 17:21
fisichella drive for ferrari first than alonso!!!! :)
SteveS said on 3rd September 2009, 17:25
Excellent news for Fisi and the Tifosi, Monza will be crazy this year!!
But can you imagine if Massa couldn’t come back for 2010 and Raikkonen decided Rally driving was more important – that would mean Fisi and Alonso — ! I’m sure Flavio would be down at Ferrari instantly demanding some sort of compensation for originally insigating that line up !
wong chin kong said on 3rd September 2009, 17:32
Good for Fisi to have a chance to get even with Kimi. The next race, Fisi can use the Ferrari Kers to outgun Button, Rubens Vettel and others. If Fisi wins the Monza race, what a publicity for Ferrari-an Italian in Italian car in Italian home prix.
Williams4ever said on 3rd September 2009, 17:36
So whoever doubted speed of Fisico can bury their doubts now.
Not only is he fast in fact he beat his double world champion ex-teammate to the Ferrari seat. Other one has been making the move for more than two years now, which in terms of F1 can be equated to ETERNITY !!!!
Hugo Bourgeois said on 3rd September 2009, 17:38
Thanks Mallya! Nice to see some gentlemen in the sport! It’s nice to see that effort gets rewarded. I just hope Force India will have some more nice results this season!
Chaz said on 3rd September 2009, 18:06
traitor…
Alex-Ctba said on 3rd September 2009, 18:23
I just hope that now with two real drivers ferrari not miss the 3rd in the wdc and How ironic…Fisichela can be the driver to triumph in his home GP. Someone predicted this?
1994fanatic said on 3rd September 2009, 21:16
I did in 96 when he raced for the other famed italian team, minardi. Yeah, you guys like that old f1 name don’t you. 96 what a year, best year of my life.