Giancarlo Fisichella

[woody2goody]

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

But be honest. Let's have a good clean argument

[Garry Walker]

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.

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.

Realisitically, his career ended when he was hammered by Alonso.....he just happens to have continued to be paid to sit in a race car since then.

[Garry Walker]

Realisitically, his career ended when he was hammered by Alonso.....he just happens to have continued to be paid to sit in a race car since then.

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.

[Sonic]

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.

[keysersoze]

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%

[woody2goody]

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.

[jens]

I remember about exactly a year ago a similar thread about Giancarlo was created. Was it you again, woody2goody?

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.

[woody2goody]

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

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.

[woody2goody]

Actually, it was me lol, just searched for it

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 )
Ralf Schumacher
Alex Wurz (3 times)
Jenson Button
Takuma Sato
Ralph Firman
Felipe Massa
Adrian Sutil