Giancarlo Fisichella
 

Ok guys, how do you think Fisico is going to do this year, what do you think of him as a driver and in general? Also, how long do you think he has left in F1?

Please be nice, as he's one of my favourite drivers http://www.motorsportforums.com/imag...lies/smile.gif

But be honest. Let's have a good clean argument http://www.motorsportforums.com/imag...es/biggrin.gif

He needs to really beat Sutil clearly to stand a chance at having a drive next year. I hope he does it too as I am not too big a fan of Sutil, but realistically, his career will end after this season.

Being in the top racing league in the world is quite a good career, even if you are in the worst car and have been destroyed by a double-WDC, in a team which operated around 1 driver only.

Fissi on his day is ballistically quick. Sadly on those very same days he falls asleep for half the race.

Out of him and his old Benetton team mate Wurz I'm surprised that its Fissi who is still on the grid.

I am a Fisichella fan, but I think there is a real possibility he will lose his ride at the end of the year. He must beat Sutil soundly to have any chance of hanging around, and I don't think he'll do it--Adrian has learned a lot from him.
Giancarlo outqualified him in Melbourne, but Adrian was quicker in each practice session. Likewise, Fisi led Adrian for most of the race but, ultimately, Sutil crossed the finish line first.

I'd say the current odds are:

GF to last the year only: 60%
GF to lose his ride during the year: 20%
GF to continue next year: 20%

I've finished sitting on the fence I think lol.

As one of my favourite drivers, I have to believe he will do well, and you know what? I do. Why? Because I believe he is better than Sutil. My hopes were crushed when he was paired with Alonso.

Still to this day I'm not sure how much that contest was distorted. I'm not sure whether that was Fernando vs Giancarlo, the true reflection of their ability. I refuse to believe that huge gulf, as I've seen Fisi drive to great podiums in multiple years at three of the best tracks in F1, Montreal, Spa and Monaco. He must be better than what his tenure at Renault showed.

By the way I doubt Sutil would have beaten him if Fisi had not botched his pit stop in Oz. He would almost certainly have been in the points.

I have nothing against Sutil but I'd rather see Liuzzi in the car. Now Fisi and Liuzzi would be a very good team.

I reckon there are at least two more years left in Fisi. I'm going to go out on a limb and say he's going to score at least 10 points this year. No podiums unless something freaky happens, but he will get some good results.

I remember about exactly a year ago a similar thread about Giancarlo was created. Was it you again, woody2goody?http://www.motorsportforums.com/imag...lies/smile.gif

I think Fisi needs to do something quite special this year to extend his F1 career for one more year. But I guess Sutil would be a stronger man to beat than in 2008, when during the first half of the year the German was struggling to heat up the tyres properly. If Sutil at least matches Fisi, then the Italian's F1 days are probably over. Mallya already hinted something like that he is 'interested in Bruno Senna'.

While watching Fisi's drives especially from his first full season in 1997, it is hard to believe that his Renault stint in 05-06 ended like it ended. I mean he was more competitive and faster in that Jordan than he often was in Renault, and we know the latter one was one of the top cars and that '97 Jordan wasn't rated as anything close to a championship-winning car (most likely as 5th best car over a full year). Yet in that Renault Fisi often trundled around P6, while he was fighting for podiums in that Jordan. Just an incredible change... in negative direction.

It might have been me Jens though I'm not sure lol. I thought I did one a couple of years ago but there you go http://www.motorsportforums.com/imag...es/biggrin.gif

I still have the feeling that he has a couple of really special drives left, and I'm sure the return to slick tyres has already helped him. Judging by his lovely drive in Melbourne it's helping a lot.

PS no wonder Sutil was crashing a lot if he didn't get his tyres warm enough.

Actually, it was me lol, just searched for it http://www.motorsportforums.com/imag...ies/tongue.gif

It's strange to see how his career has gone, when you consider that over his stint in F1, he has beaten the following teammates:

Pedro Lamy
Giovanni Lavaggi (ok mayb£ h£ do£$n't count http://www.motorsportforums.com/imag...es/biggrin.gif)
Ralf Schumacher
Alex Wurz (3 times)
Jenson Button
Takuma Sato
Ralph Firman
Felipe Massa
Adrian Sutil

And judging by his shunt in practise....... http://www.motorsportforums.com/imag...ies/tongue.gif

Just another journeyman driver. Average enough to get you some points, with the right breaks during a race, but nothing special.

I agree.

I think he should retire/go back to DTM. He's got nothing left to prove in F1 anymore.

Don't know why he has a ride still. Mentally the weakest driver on the grid.

Fortunately for him, Sutil is rubbish.

They both need to beat each other substantially. Sutil needs to beat the driver that was smashed by Alonso in order for teams to take interest in him, and Fisichella needs to smash Sutil in order to prove he's not past it. Since neither of them can do that, I can't see either of their careers lasting much longer.

To be fair apart from the first half of 1998, Fisi was always quicker...

Indeed, although he was never pair£d with Lavaggi anyway, Lavaggi actually r£placed Fisi for the last half of 1996. I genuinely thought in the late 90s and early 00s that once he got in a good car he'd carry all before him, but it just never happened. Whether he got a fair crack of the whip vs. Alonso or not who knows, but the very best drivers always seem to have a knack of engineering themselves into a position where they are able to make the most of these opportunities.

Great natural talent, but that only takes you so far. I think looking back on his career, it would be an assessment of "good (sometimes extremely good) but not THAT good"

beating Massa and Button in the same car is not bad going, as is beating Ralf Schumacher. Should've made more out of his career at Renault, but maybe he was restricted by his team as they seemed to prefer an arrogant spaniard, but Fisichella has lasted and although never been chllenging for anything special, Hes stood the test of time, so he cant be half bad for that.

Can't polish a turd! Don't make excuses for the guy. He's just not got it any more.

Actually, it's debateable as to wether he had it in the first place.....

Those days just never coincide with a GP these days.....

Up to his Renault drive in 2005, Fisi never really had a car competitive enough of producing a consistent array of top results. When he got that Renault opportunity, it started like a dream, but fizzled out thereafter. Maybe their was a favoritism towards Alonso, maybe Fisi was burned out from years of driving cars that would never give him the break he wanted. Now in Force India, I don't realistically see his career blossoming from there. But I do think he still has a lot to offer at that level. I think his experience is a worthy source for a new team like Force India, and that he will be the man to score the teams better finishes.