Why I love... Giancarlo Fisichella

I decided that I would start doing a little blog feature called 'Why I love...' In these blog posts I will be talking about something I love and why I love it! It's pretty simple stuff really!

So, in this first feature I will be talking about someone that I have been a fan of for around 14 years. I've been a fan of a lot of things over the years and they've all come and gone. I've grown out of them or just forgotten about them, but this man have been my favourite consistantly for years and years. The man in question...

Giancarlo Fisichella


For those of you who don't know who he is, or haven't read my Twitter rambles about him; Giancarlo Fisichella is an Italian motorsport wonder.
He started out his Formula One career in 1996 with Minardi, who were the 'back markers' of the F1 world. He didn't last the whole season because the team needed someone who could pay to drive for their team so Giancarlo was replaced, but he obviously showed great promise because Eddie Jordan soon secured his services for the 1997 year, getting Giancarlo to race for his Jordan team alongside Ralf Schumacher. Giancarlo then spend a couple of years teaming with Alex Wurz. He had some success with the Benneton team, achieving a few second places. In 2003 he moved back to Jordan and it was here when he won his first race, under confusing circumstances. Kimi Raikkonen was declared the winner but it was soon confirmed that Giancarlo had actually won. He got his winners trophy at the next race.
In 2004 he moved to Sauber Petronas and had a rather bad season, but it was mostly down to the poor performance of the car.
In 2005 Giancarlo got off to an amazing start with his new team Renault (Born form the ashes of Benetton) by winning the first race of the season and there was no question over his victory this time. I was so pleased and thought that finally he had a chance to win the championship. He finally had a good enough car, but of course, he was never given a real chance to win because of Fernando Alonso. Don't get me wrong, I love Fernando, but he always seems to demand being the number 1 driver. A couple of examples of this are Piquet's fixed crash and the Ferrari scandal of last weekend. Giancarlo still finished 5th in the championship. Brilliant!
He stayed with Renault in 2006 and finished the highest championship position in his career in 4th after winning yet another race.
2007 saw Giancarlo once again staying with Renault, the year that featured his only disqualified race finish after he ignored the pit lane stop light.
In 2008 he moved to a brand new team called Force India where he'd stay for the majority of 2 years. It was the 2009 season where I think I was most proud of Giancarlo. It was the Belgian GP at Spa. Giancarlo, despite being in what is usually called a 'backmarker' car got onto pole position! In the race he was overtaken by Kimi, but he kept on his tail for the whole race. He didn't let Kimi in the superiour car get away from him. I was oh so proud of him. He only came second, but it was the most proud he'd made me in his whole career.
It was after that race that Giancarlo moved to Ferrari after Felipe Massa's injury. I think I expected too much from Fisi. The car was very hard to drive and he didn't perform quite as well as Kimi did, but I was still do happy that he could see out his Formula One career in a team that is from his own country and with such presteige.
Giancarlo is now semi-retired from Formula 1 and it now Ferrari's test driver. He is also taking part in the Le Mans Series this year, which I will be going to see at Silverstone this September. I can't wait! I'll be getting out my Fisichella flag and waving it proudly.

In conclusion, it can't be put into words how much I adore Giancarlo. I've travelled to see him a few times, but have yet to meet the man himself. He is my idol and if I met him, I seriously don't know what I'd do. I've met loads of famous people in the past and I'm completely fine with it, but Giancarlo is different. He's GIANCARLO FISICHELLA. I would possibly faint. I've adored him for so long. Back in the days when all the English he knew was 'I am very 'appy' which always amused me greatly. His English has improved so much and I'm just generally so proud of him for everything. I remember when he was awarded the Driver Of The Year award which is voted for by fellow F1 drivers. That shows how highly he is thought of by his piers. I've rambled so much, but Giancarlo deserves it. I can't put into words what he means to me.

xx

Here is Giancarlo on an Italian show that I believe it like Punk'd. I could listen to him speaking Italian alllllllll day long. Even when he's angry!