S2000 Driver

Fisichella wants a chance to prove himself: Veteran driver frustrated at Jordan. Italian's surprise win in Brazil might help his cause as he shops for a better team

RANDY PHILLIPS
The Gazette

Monday, June 09, 2003

Montreal Gazette






CREDIT: MARCOS TOWNSEND, THE GAZETTE

Fisi loves Canada. \"I always seem to go well at the Canadian Grand Prix.\"

Giancarlo Fisichella will be making his eighth consecutive appearance in the Air Canada Grand Prix this week, but for the first time he comes to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve a winner.

Fisichella, in his eighth season in Formula One, scored the first victory of his career at the Brazilian Grand Prix in April, winning in his 110th start and giving Jordan-Ford its first win in 200 races.

"The win is very important to me," the 30-year-old Italian told the Reuters news agency.

"After nearly eight years in Formula One, I finished second five times and I never won. I feel much better now. I feel much more relaxed and I'm looking forward."

The victory was a long-time coming, but Fisichella had to wait several more days after the event to be declared the winner.

It was only after the racing authorities reviewed the final laps of the race - which had ended prematurely because of two major accidents - that the win was taken away from Kimi Raikkonen and given to Fisichella.

The race was red-flagged after Fernando Alonso plowed his Renault into the wreckage of Mark Webber's Jaguar, which had been involved in a crash.

When a race is stopped under such circumstances, the final running order is based on track positions two laps before.

It was initially thought that the race ended on Lap 55. Two laps before, Raikkonen was leading in his McLaren-Mercedes and Fisichella was second.

After a review, it was shown that Fisichella had in fact started his 56th lap when the race was halted. Two laps before, he was leading - not Raikkonen.

The young Finn, who had scored his maiden F1 victory at the previous Grand Prix in Malaysia, was classified second, ahead of Spain's Alonso.

F1's governing body, the International Automobile Federation, declared Fisichella the winner five days later. At the next race, in San Marino, he was awarded the trophy from the Brazilian Grand Prix in a short ceremony.

"I must be the first F1 driver in history to win his first Grand Prix on a Friday and receive the trophy a week later," said Fisichella, referring to FIA's decision announced April 11.

With the win, Fisichella became the third different winner in the first three races of the season. Since then, five different drivers have won in the seven races so far.

As for the Canadian Grand Prix, Fisichella has twice finished second, in 1998 and 1999, both times with the Benetton team, behind Michael Schumacher of Ferrari and Mika Hakkinen of McLaren, respectively.

The native of Rome was third with Jordan Peugeot in 1997 and with Benetton in 2000.

Last year, he finished fifth in his first season back with the Jordan team.

He's put in seven consecutive appearances at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve since his debut season with Minardi Ford in 1996, and the only time he failed to finish was two years ago. After qualifying 18th, he was involved in two minor collisions on the first lap and was forced to retire.

"I don't know why, but I always seem to go well at the Canadian Grand Prix," Fisichella said in the lead-up to this weekend's event.

"I feel very confident at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve because it is quite easy for me to find the limits of the car and the track each time I get there.

"You have to be quick in the chicanes, and there are three or four of them, so maybe that's why I drive well here and get good results."

He added: "I really like the city and it's usually a good weekend. I'm hoping to score points again this year."

Any points would be welcomed by the team. Aside from Fisichella's victory, which some have called "lucky," Jordan has struggled to find consistency this season.

The team is fifth with 11 points in the constructors' championship. Ten of those points were the result of Fisichella's win amid the chaos and confusion in Brazil.

His teammate, Ralph Firman, a 27-year-old rookie from Norfolk, England, delivered the team's only other point with an eighth-place finish at the Spanish Grand Prix in May.

Entering the season, the Jordan team had high hopes of being a strong entry.

The new car, tagged EJ13, promised improved power from the Ford Cosworth engine and was expected to take the team farther up the grid on a regular basis in qualifying.

It hasn't happened.

So far, Fisichella's best qualifying result was eighth place in Brazil. In the other events, he was 13th, 14th, 17th twice, ninth and 12th.

Firman's qualifying results: 17th, 20th, 16th, 19th, 15th and 16th in last two races, in Austria and Monaco.

Since his victory, Fisichella has finished no better than 10th - in the last race, in Monaco.

He was 15th in San Marino, and retired with engine and fuel-system problems in Spain and Austria. Fisichella is generally seen as the most underrated driver on the Grand Prix circuit, and he's itching to land with a team that is a true championship contender.

"I need another good result to have everything in place to finally get to a good team," he was quoted as saying in Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport following another disappointing result in Monaco.

"I am tired of suffering. ... I want to show what I'm worth. Winning in Brazil, I achieved a lifetime dream. Now I want to continue on the same road."

Team boss Eddie Jordan has said he won't stand in the way of his driver jumping to a better team.

"We'd rather see a top-line driver like Giancarlo get the chance to fight for a championship because, until things change a little bit, it is more difficult for Jordan," he told Autosport magazine.

"Giancarlo is a more desirable option on the driver market with his victory."

Profile of Giancarlo Fisichella