Who I am

HISTORY

rACING cAREER

#1

Junior Career

Like most current Formula One drivers, he began kart racing as a youngster in the Guidonia’s Kart circuit. In 1992, he competed in the Italian Formula Three Championship, racing for the RC Motorsport team. He finished runner up in 1993, and in 1994 he won the championship, following race victories in Monaco and Macau. He left open-wheel racing briefly in 1995 and 1996, driving for Alfa Romeo in the International Touring Car Championship

#2

Formula One

After his experience with karts, in Formula 3 and in the Touring Car Championships, he raced in Formula 1 from 1996 to 2009 with Minardi, Jordan, Benetton, Sauber, Renault, Force India and Ferrari, competing in 231 Grand Prix and obtaining 275 championship points. He won three Grand Prix (Brazil 2003, Australia 2005 and Malaysia 2006), achieved four pole positions (Austria 1998, Australia 2005, Malaysia 2006 and Belgium 2009) and set two fastest laps (Spain 1997 and Spain 2005). He was also a test driver for Minardi in 1995 and for Ferrari in 1996, 2010, 2011 and 2012.

#3

After Formula One

After retiring from Formula 1 in 2009, Giancarlo Fisichella enjoyed a highly successful career in GT racing. He won the GTE Pro class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, in 2012 and 2014, driving for AF Corse. He also secured victories in the FIA World Endurance Championship, including wins at Silverstone, São Paulo, and Bahrain in 2012. In the IMSA series, he triumphed twice in 2014 with Risi Competizione. Domestically, he claimed the Italian GT Endurance Championship in 2018, 2023, and 2024, driving Ferraris for Scuderia Baldini. In 2020, he won two Pro-Am class races in the GT World Challenge Europe. As of 2025, he remains active in GT racing, competing in the Asian GT series.

FOCUS FORMULA 1, MY SPORTING HISTORY

1995-1996

Minardi

Before becoming an official driver in Formula 1 Grand Prix, he worked as a test driver for Minardi in 1995. In the same year, he also took part in a test with the Ferrari 412 T2 on the Fiorano Circuit. However, his debut in Formula 1 took place, as for many young Italians, with the Scuderia di Faenza.
For 1996, the team planned to use him again as third driver, but following the defection of the Japanese Taki Inoue a few days before the start of the season, the Roman was promoted to full-time driver: during the championship, he took part in only eight Grand Prix with the M195-B, obtaining eighth place in the Canadian Grand Prix as his best result, thus failing to collect any points.

1997

Jordan

For the 1997 championship he was signed by Flavio Briatore, Benetton’s team boss at the time, who however decided to loan him to Jordan for that season, where he found Ralf Schumacher as a teammate. With the 197 he had a good championship: he collected his first championship points thanks to 4th place in San Marino and 6th in Monaco, he set the fastest lap in Spain and climbed onto the podium for the first time in Canada where he came in 3rd. At Hockenheim he qualified 2nd, a few tenths behind pole-man Gerhard Berger and in the race he managed to take the lead, albeit for a few laps, but unfortunately a tire burst 5 laps from the end. At the Belgian Grand Prix, on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, he started from the second row and finished 2nd, beaten only by Michael Schumacher with the Ferrari. He also came close to the podium at Monza and Spielberg where he came in 4th. He finished the season in eighth place with 20 points.

1998-2001

Benetton

In 1998, Fisichella moved, as planned, to Benetton, where he remained until 2001. In 1998, he drove the B198 with Austrian Alexander Wurz as his teammate. He finished sixth in Brazil, second in Monaco and Canada, and fifth in Great Britain. At the Austrian Grand Prix on the A1-Ring, he took his first career pole position, beating Jean Alesi, but above all ahead of Mika Häkkinen and Michael Schumacher. During the race, he was forced to retire due to an accident with Jean Alesi. He obtained his last point of the season thanks to sixth place in the Luxembourg Grand Prix. With sixteen points earned, he was ninth in the championship. For the 1999 season, he once again teamed up with Wurz at the wheel of the B199. He immediately scored points at the Australian Grand Prix, San Marino, and Monaco. At the Canadian Grand Prix, on the Montreal Circuit, he came close to victory, finishing second at the finish line, just a few hundredths of a second behind winner Mika Häkkinen in the McLaren. He did not score any more points during the rest of the season and was forced to retire on five occasions. He finished the season in ninth place with thirteen points. In the 2000 championship he raced with the B200, again with Wurz as his teammate. He finished fifth at the Australian Grand Prix, second in Brazil, at Interlagos, then outside the points zone for three consecutive races. After fifth place at the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, he climbed to the bottom step of the podium in Monaco and Montreal. In the last nine races, he collected four placings and five retirements. The only satisfaction of the second part of the season was the third time in qualifying obtained at Hockenheim. At the end of the year, however, he was sixth in the drivers’ standings with eighteen points. In his fourth and final year at Benetton, he drove the B201 and the young British driver Jenson Button joined the team. He managed to score only three useful results in the entire season. He is sixth in Brazil, fourth in Germany and third at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. At the Japanese Grand Prix, in Suzuka, he obtains sixth place in qualifying, the best result of the season. With only eight points earned, he is classified eleventh.

2002–2003

Jordan

Fisichella scored seven points in 2002, while comfortably outpacing new teammate Takuma Sato, although the Jordan-Honda car of that year was never truly competitive. After Honda withdrew their engine supply, Jordan switched to Ford engines for the 2003 season, but the team were still unable to compete with the top teams on the grid. Despite this lack of performance, Fisichella won his first race at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Battling with McLaren’s Kimi Räikkönen amidst heavy rain and numerous crashes, Fisichella took the race lead on lap 54, just before the race was red-flagged. However, he was demoted to second place on the podium, because under the regulations, the race results were declared at two laps before the red flag, at which point Räikkönen was thought to have been the race leader. Several days later, though, the FIA determined that Fisichella had already begun his 56th lap before the red flag, meaning that he, and not Räikkönen, had been leading the race two laps before its premature end, awarding the Italian his first F1 victory, and he became the only F1 driver to have won a race without having stood atop the podium. He collected the winner’s trophy at the next race at Imola. Fisichella’s only other points finish of 2003 was to be a seventh place at Indianapolis.

2004

Sauber

For the 2004 season he moved to Sauber alongside the young Brazilian Felipe Massa. With the C23 he competed in the championship without obtaining great results but often earning championship points. After some placings in the first Grand Prix he obtained sixth place in Spain then retired in Monaco. He scored points again at the Nürburgring, in Montreal, where the fourth place on arrival was the best result of the season, at Silverstone, at the Hungaroring, at Spa-Francorchamps, at Monza, at Shanghai and at Suzuka. In the second part of the season he also managed to do some good qualifying, obtaining the eighth time at the Hungarian Grand Prix, the fifth in Belgium, the seventh in China and in Japan. He concluded the season positively with twenty-two points obtained which earned him eleventh place in the drivers’ standings.

2005-2007

Renault

From the 2005 championship he moved to Renault managed by Flavio Briatore and remained there until the 2007 championship. In the 2005 season he drove the R25 and had as his teammate the Spaniard Fernando Alonso. At the Australian Grand Prix, at Albert Park, the first race of the season, he won the pole position beating Jarno Trulli in the Toyota. At the start he maintained the first position, which he temporarily lost during the pit stops, and crossed the finish line first ahead of Rubens Barrichello and Fernando Alonso. He retired in Malaysia due to a collision, in Bahrain due to an engine failure and in San Marino due to an accident. He came fifth in Barcelona, where he set the fastest lap, twelfth in Monaco, sixth at the Nürburgring then retired in Montreal, due to problems with the hydraulic system, and in Indianapolis. In France he placed sixth, fourth in Great Britain and Germany, ninth in Hungary and fourth in Türkiye where he started from the front row. He achieved third place at Monza, retired due to an accident at Spa-Francorchamps, came fifth at Interlagos, second at Suzuka and fourth at Shanghai starting from the front row. With fifty-eight points, he was fifth in the drivers’ championship, won by his teammate Fernando Alonso. Renault won the constructors’ title. In 2006, still in the team with Fernando Alonso, he raced with the R26. At the first race of the championship, the Bahrain Grand Prix, he was forced to retire due to problems with the hydraulic system. At the Malaysian Grand Prix, on the Sepang Circuit, he achieved pole position ahead of Jenson Button in the Honda and Nico Rosberg in the Williams. He won the race ahead of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, taking his third career win, the last for an Italian. In Melbourne, he started from the front row and came fourth at the finish line, eighth at Imola, sixth at the Nurburgring. He achieved the second fastest time in qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix and came third, sixth in Monaco, fourth in Great Britain and Canada, where he started from the front row. He climbs to the third step of the podium in Indianapolis, is sixth in Magny-Cours and Hockenheim, retires in Hungary. In Turkey he arrives sixth, fourth in Italy, third in China after starting from the front row, third in Japan and sixth in Brazil. At the end of the season, with seventy-two points, he is fourth in the championship won for the second time by Fernando Alonso. Renault wins the second constructors’ title. In 2007 the Finn Heikki Kovalainen replaces Fernando Alonso who has moved to McLaren. At the wheel of the uncompetitive R27 Fisichella does not obtain significant results but only a few placings. He is fifth in Australia, sixth in Malaysia, seventh in Bahrain, ninth in Spain. At the Monaco Grand Prix, in Monte Carlo, he obtains fourth place, the best placing of the season. He is disqualified in Canada, arrives ninth in the United States, sixth in France and eighth in Great Britain. At the Nurburgring he is tenth, twelfth at the Hungaroring, ninth in Istanbul. At the Italian Grand Prix, in Monza, he finishes twelfth, while at Spa-Francorchamps he retires on the first lap due to a broken suspension. In the last three Grand Prix, he obtains fifth place at Mount Fuji, eleventh in Shanghai and is forced to retire at Interlagos. He ends the season in eighth place with twenty-one points.

2008-2009

Force India

After leaving Renault he moved to the new Force India team of the Indian entrepreneur Vijay Mallya to compete in the 2008 and 2009 championships. In 2008, alongside the German Adrian Sutil, he debuted the VJM01. Out of eighteen Grand Prix races he had to retire eight times and obtained as his best result a tenth place in the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. He finished the season without obtaining championship points. In 2009 he drove the new VJM02 and his teammate was still Adrian Sutil. In the first eleven Grand Prix races he finished ten without obtaining points but he retired only in Turkey. At the Belgian Grand Prix, on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, he achieved a historic pole position, the fourth for the Italian driver, the first for the Indian team. In the race he was beaten only by Kimi Räikkönen with the Ferrari F60 equipped with the KERS system which improved the car’s acceleration. Thanks to this podium he gets the first world championship points for Force India. After the Belgian Grand Prix he leaves the Indian team to race with Ferrari in place of the injured Felipe Massa.

2009

Ferrari

On 3 September 2009, a few days after the Belgian Grand Prix, he was hired by Ferrari to replace Luca Badoer, who in turn had replaced the injured Felipe Massa, in the last five Grands Prix of the season. Having arrived in Maranello with great ambitions, he finished all five races well below expectations, due to the objective difficulties posed by the F60, profoundly different from the Force India, and the current regulation which did not allow private free practice. On his debut with Ferrari at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, he obtained the fourteenth time in qualifying and ninth place in the race. In Singapore he finished thirteenth, twelfth in Japan and, starting from last place, tenth in Brazil and sixteenth in Abu Dhabi. In five Grands Prix with Ferrari he did not score any points. For the 2010 championship he continued his relationship with Ferrari in the role of third driver, after having been one step away from signing a contract as a full-time driver with Sauber. In the 2011 championship he carries out various sporting and commercial activities for Ferrari. He is an official driver in endurance races and a test driver for Formula 1 single-seaters. He takes part in an event at the Parco delle Cascine in Florence driving an F10 and at the Bologna Motor Show he drives a few laps of the track at the wheel of an F10, also simulating a pit stop. In the 2012 championship, in addition to competing in the Endurance World Championship, he is a test driver for Ferrari with sporting and commercial duties. At Moscow City Racing he performs driving an F60 and an FF.