Giancarlo Fisichella (; born 14 January 1973), also known as Fisico, Giano or Fisi, is an Italian professional
racing driver, also
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
of the official ''Nazionale Piloti''
association football team (composed of the racing drivers). He has driven in
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
for
Minardi,
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
,
Benetton,
Sauber,
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
,
Force India and
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
. Since then he has driven for
AF Corse
AF Corse is an Italian auto racing team founded by former racing driver Amato Ferrari in 1995 in Piacenza. Strongly linked to the Maserati and Ferrari brands, AF Corse currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship, GT World Challen ...
in their Ferrari 458 GTE at various sportscar events, becoming twice a Le Mans 24 Hour class winner, and a GT class winner of the Petit Le Mans at
Road Atlanta. He was also Ferrari's F1 reserve driver for 2010.
Fisichella won three races in his Formula One career, the first of which was at the chaotic
2003 Brazilian Grand Prix, a race abandoned for safety reasons with 15 laps remaining. After several days of confusion regarding rules and technicalities, Fisichella was eventually declared the winner in the following week, and collected his trophy in an unofficial ceremony at the following race. He was brought into the Renault team to replace
fellow Italian Jarno Trulli, and won his first race with the team in Australia in 2005. However, after that race it was his teammate, the Spanish driver
Fernando Alonso, that would win the greater share of races for Renault. Although highly rated as a driver, Fisichella was unable to keep pace with eventual champion Alonso, managing just one further race win following his debut. However, his best finishes also helped Renault win back to back Constructors' titles from 2005 to 2006. Outside of driving, he has backed his own
GP2 team,
FMS International
Coloni Motorsport, also known as Scuderia Coloni, was an auto racing team from Italy. Formed by Enzo Coloni in 1983, the team participated in Formula Three between 1983 and 1986, before racing in Formula One as Enzo Coloni Racing Car Systems ...
.
On 17 June 2012 Fisichella won the GTE Pro division of the Le Mans 24hrs for AF Corse and followed this up with the Manufacturers' title in the WEC at the end of the season.
Early 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
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
and
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
. He left open-wheel racing briefly in 1995 and 1996, driving for
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...
in the
International Touring Car Championship.
Formula One
Minardi (1996)
In , he made the move to Formula One, making his debut for the
Minardi team, after being the official test driver the previous season. However he did not complete the full season since Minardi required a driver who could bring funding to the team, and replaced Fisichella with
Giovanni Lavaggi.
Jordan (1997)
For 1997 he made the move to
Eddie Jordan's eponymous team, where he drove alongside former F1 champion
Michael Schumacher's brother
Ralf, himself a former
Formula Nippon
The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series. It is considered as being the top level of single-seater racing in Japan and regional motorsports in Asia. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) a ...
champion. Fisichella gained his first podium finish at the
1997 Canadian Grand Prix
The 1997 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on 15 June 1997. The race was stopped early on lap 54 after a big crash involving Olivier Panis, who broke his legs and would be unable to start the ne ...
, and went on to finish higher in the points standings than his teammate. At Hockenheim a victory looked to be within reach for Fisichella, but a puncture and the performance of an on-form
Gerhard Berger denied him the win. Fisichella was able to show his talent again at the rain-soaked
Belgian Grand Prix
The Belgian Grand Prix ( French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula One World Championship.
The first national race o ...
in which he finished a commendable second behind Michael Schumacher. Following this race, the Benetton team signed him for 1998.
Benetton (1998–2001)
Following
Renault's withdrawal from Formula One, Benetton would contest the 1998 season without factory-supplied engines, instead using rebranded development versions of 1997 Renault engines. Despite not having the latest engines, Fisichella still managed second places at Montreal and
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
, and was in contention for a victory in Canada until gearbox problems slowed him down. In Austria, Fisichella scored his first
pole position, although an on-track clash with
Jean Alesi during the race cost him any chance of a good result. He was then able to add only two more points to his total in the second half of the year as Benetton lost ground on their competition.
1999 proved to be a similarly inconsistent season. He did score some points finishes, including second at Montreal, and again came close to a victory in the
European Grand Prix
The European Grand Prix (also known as the Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One event that was introduced during the mid-1980s and was held every year from to , except in . During these years, the European Grand Prix was held in a count ...
, until he spun off whilst in the lead. This would prove to be his best chance of a victory for the next few seasons.
Fisichella's season was to follow a similar pattern in 2000. He again gained some surprise podium finishes early in the year, but Benetton's poor second half of the season meant that he failed to score any more points. After his first Benetton year, when he finished one point behind him, Fisichella had comprehensively outperformed his Austrian teammate
Alexander Wurz, who would then leave the team to make way for British rookie
Jenson Button
Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver. He won the 2009 Formula One World Championship when he drove for the Brawn GP team. After his F1 career, he became champion of the 2018 season of the Super GT ...
in 2001. Renault had purchased the Benetton team after the start of the 2000 season, but their radical engine design meant Benetton had an uncompetitive 2001 car, and as a result, Fisichella was battling for much of the season with teams such as Minardi and
Prost. However, the efforts of technical director
Mike Gascoyne and his staff did result in improvements over the year, culminating in a 4–5 finish at the
German Grand Prix and a third-place finish for Fisichella at the Belgian race. Although Fisichella had gained the team's best results that season and consistently outperformed Button, he was not retained by the team, so he rejoined
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
for 2002.
Return to Jordan (2002–2003)
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
The Brazilian Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prêmio do Brasil), currently held under the name São Paulo Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prêmio de São Paulo), is a Formula One championship race which is currently held at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace ...
. Battling with
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formu ...
'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. Fisichella was 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
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
.
Sauber (2004)
Unhappy with the Jordan team's performance, Fisichella moved to
Sauber in 2004 in the hope of greater results, and of using the team as a way of gaining access to, and a drive for, 2003 World Champions
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
, who supplied re-badged engines to the Sauber team. Fisichella drove well all year, comfortably outpacing teammate
Felipe Massa for much of the season (scoring 22 championship points vs
Massa
Massa may refer to:
Places
*Massa, Tuscany, the administrative seat of the Italian province of Massa-Carrara.
*Massa (river), river in Switzerland
* Massa (Tanzanian ward), administrative ward in the Mpwapwa district of the Dodoma Region of Ta ...
's 12).
Renault (2005–2007)
2005
His strong performances prompted his former Benetton-Renault team boss
Flavio Briatore to re-sign him for the 2005 season as partner to the young Spanish driver
Fernando Alonso. A win at the season opening race at
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...
signalled the Formula One breakthrough that commentators had been predicting, but it proved to be something of a false dawn. A run of poor luck saw Fisichella fall behind his teammate in the championship standings, and at times the pair were achieving noticeably different lap times with the same equipment. It appeared that Fisichella simply did not have the pace to match Alonso.
The difference in pace between Fisichella and Alonso was noticeable, and while Alonso's metronomic consistency helped him win the 2005 championship, Fisichella's general bad luck was to cost him points finishes. He was overtaken and lost the lead on the final lap of the
Japanese Grand Prix by McLaren driver Kimi Räikkönen, despite his
race engineer urging him to avoid letting Räikkönen past, which earned him heavy criticism from the press. Nevertheless, his performances alongside Alonso throughout the season enabled
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
to win the World Constructors' Championship ahead of
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formu ...
and
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
, the latter of which had won that title the previous six seasons.
2006
2006 proved to be a similar season for Fisichella. Having won in Malaysia, putting in a strong performance to win from the pole position, he failed to maintain that pace for the upcoming races, and even failed to reach the top ten in qualifying for two races. This form, in addition to a penalty in Monaco for allegedly impeding
David Coulthard, meant Fisichella was again unable to challenge his teammate
Alonso for the Drivers' Championship. Some strong results in the second half of the 2006 season, including finishing ahead of Alonso at the
US Grand Prix, enabled Fisichella to obtain his best ever results: Fourth in the World Drivers' Championship with 72 points, one win, and five podium finishes. After finishing third in the
2006 Japanese Grand Prix
The 2006 Japanese Grand Prix (formally known as the 2006 Formula 1 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One race held on 8 October 2006 at the Suzuka Circuit, in Suzuka, Japan. It was the seventeenth and penultimate round of the 2006 ...
, Fisichella dedicated the result to his best friend, Tonino Visciani, who died of a heart attack on the Thursday before the race. Nevertheless, he was able to get 6th place in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
to secure the Constructors' title for Renault.
2007
In 2007 Giancarlo Fisichella became Renault's lead driver after the departure of
Fernando Alonso. His teammate was the team's former test driver, the young
Finn Heikki Kovalainen
Heikki Johannes Kovalainen (; born 19 October 1981) is a Finnish racing driver competing in the Japan Rally Championship for Rally Team AICELLO. He raced in Formula One between 2007 and 2013 for the Renault, McLaren, Team Lotus, Caterham a ...
, who was replaced as test driver by
Nelson Piquet Jr.
Nelson Angelo Tamsma Piquet Souto Maior (born July 25, 1985), also known as Nelson Piquet Junior or Nelsinho Piquet, is a Brazilian stock car racing driver and former Formula One and Formula E driver where he was champion in the 2014–15 seaso ...
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
did not demonstrate the same level of pace as in previous seasons, which had seen them win successive World Championships. It remains unclear whether the difference was due to the change of tyre supplier from
Michelin to
Bridgestone
is a Japanese multinational tire manufacturer founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (1889–1976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of , meaning 'stone bridge' in Japa ...
, the driving abilities of Fernando Alonso, or simply being outpaced in off-season development by the other top teams. Another possibility is that the team's wind tunnel was giving inaccurate data in late 2006 which affected the development of the 2007 car. This was cited by Pat Symonds in an issue of F1 Racing Magazine. In the early races, Fisichella obtained better results than rookie teammate Kovalainen, but in Canada and the USA it was the Finn who claimed the higher finishes. Fisichella was disqualified from the
Canadian Grand Prix, along with Ferrari's
Felipe Massa, for exiting the pit lane while the traffic light was showing red, the purpose of which is to prevent cars rejoining the race ahead of the
safety car. He later stated that he had been busy avoiding other cars in the pit lane and had simply not noticed the red light. The Renault team seemed to have made significant progress in terms of pace by the
Spanish Grand Prix, but a series of fuel rig problems meant that neither driver was able to capitalise on this apparent increase in performance. Fisichella crashed into the
Super Aguri of
Anthony Davidson at the
2007 Hungarian Grand Prix
The 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Magyar Nagydíj 2007) was the eleventh race of the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship and was held on 5 August 2007 at the Hungaroring racing track in Mogyoród, Pest, Hungary. It was ...
which broke his rear suspension and forced him to retire.
Force India (2008–2009)
2008
With
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
signing
Fernando Alonso and
Nelson Piquet Jr.
Nelson Angelo Tamsma Piquet Souto Maior (born July 25, 1985), also known as Nelson Piquet Junior or Nelsinho Piquet, is a Brazilian stock car racing driver and former Formula One and Formula E driver where he was champion in the 2014–15 seaso ...
Fisichella was announced as the number one driver alongside
Adrian Sutil
Adrian Sutil (; born 11 January 1983) is a German-Uruguayan racing driver who raced in Formula One for seven seasons: from 2007–2011, then 2013– 2014. He drove for the Spyker F1 Team, Force India F1 Team and the Sauber F1 Team. He was also ...
for the
Force India F1 team for the season (This was the third stint for Fisichella at the former Jordan team) on 10 January 2008. In the
2008 Monaco Grand Prix
The 2008 Monaco Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco 2008) was a Formula One motor race held on 25 May 2008 at the Circuit de Monaco; contested over 76 laps, it was the sixth race of the 2008 Formula One World Championshi ...
, he became the 9th driver to join the '200' club for drivers to have competed in at least 200 Grands Prix.
Fisichella finished the season pointless, as did the Force India team. However, there were a few moments when he found himself in a points position, such as the Brazilian Grand Prix, where an early change to soft compound tyres and his wet-weather ability saw him climb as high as 3rd. On 17 October, Force India announced they would keep Fisichella for the 2009 season.
2009
With the new
Force India VJM02
The Force India VJM02 was Force India's Formula One car for the 2009 Formula One season. It was revealed in a low-key press event, after the car's first test at the Silverstone Circuit, on February 28, 2009, before a public test at the Circuito de ...
powered by a
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquarte ...
engine, Fisichella qualified 18th (promoted to 15th after both
Toyotas and
Lewis Hamilton were demoted) on the grid for the 2009 curtain-opener at
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
. He finished 11th in the race itself. In
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
, he qualified 18th, and was classified in the same position, having spun off in the torrential rain that stopped the race on lap 33.
On 29 August 2009, making the most of some very effective technical upgrades from Force India, Fisichella recorded the team's first pole position at the
Belgian Grand Prix
The Belgian Grand Prix ( French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula One World Championship.
The first national race o ...
. He went on to score Force India's first points in Formula One with a strong second-place finish behind Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen.
During that weekend, there were rumours that Fisichella might replace fellow Italian
Luca Badoer (who was himself replacing the injured Felipe Massa) and become a
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
driver, something that he admitted he always wanted to do. On 3 September 2009, an official press statement confirmed Fisichella would be released from Force India to drive for Ferrari at the
Italian Grand Prix
The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been held since 1921. In 2013 it ...
, his home race.
Ferrari (2009)
Fisichella signed a contract as Ferrari's driver for the remainder of the 2009 season and reserve driver for 2010 on 3 September 2009. However, he had not ruled out continuing to race for another team in 2010, saying "if there is a good option to find another seat in another team it would be good". Beginning with the
2009 Italian Grand Prix
The 2009 Italian Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 Gran Premio Santander d'Italia 2009) was a Formula One motor race held on 13 September 2009 at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza, Italy. It was the 13th race of the 2009 Formula One ...
, he replaced the injured
Felipe Massa for the remainder of the
2009 season.
Fisichella remained Ferrari's reserve driver for but had been keen to keep racing for a different team. He admitted that
Sauber was a strong option and was strongly linked to the team, however his hopes of driving for Sauber in 2010 were ended when
Pedro de la Rosa was confirmed as the team's second driver.
He was also linked to a possible return to
Force India but the team confirmed former teammate
Adrian Sutil
Adrian Sutil (; born 11 January 1983) is a German-Uruguayan racing driver who raced in Formula One for seven seasons: from 2007–2011, then 2013– 2014. He drove for the Spyker F1 Team, Force India F1 Team and the Sauber F1 Team. He was also ...
and fellow Italian
Vitantonio Liuzzi. As a result, he remained one of Ferrari's test drivers for along with fellow Italian
Luca Badoer, Spaniard
Marc Gené
Marc Gené i Guerrero (born 29 March 1974) is a Spanish professional racing driver. He is best known as a tester for Williams and Ferrari in Formula One, Minardi Formula One driver and factory driver for Peugeot's Le Mans team, with which ...
, Frenchman
Jules Bianchi and Italian
MotoGP rider
Valentino Rossi.
At the end of 2010, Fisichella along with
Luca Badoer and
Marc Gené
Marc Gené i Guerrero (born 29 March 1974) is a Spanish professional racing driver. He is best known as a tester for Williams and Ferrari in Formula One, Minardi Formula One driver and factory driver for Peugeot's Le Mans team, with which ...
was replaced by
Jules Bianchi as Ferrari test driver ahead of the
2011 season.
However he remains a part of the Italian team and attended their annual 'Wroom' media event at
Madonna di Campiglio
Madonna di Campiglio (german: Sankt Maria im Pein) is a village and a ski resort in northeast Italy. It is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Pinzolo. The village lies in the Val Rendena at an elevation of above sea level, and has approximat ...
in January 2011.
Helmet
Fisichella's helmet was white with two yellow and green lines with a blue diamond on the center of the lines running on each half of the helmet (forming a X in the sides) and around the visor; on the top there was a blue drop. In 2004, silver and chrome flames were incorporated in the design by Fisichella's then painter, Carsten Meurer of MRC Design. In 2007, Barney Stinton, part of Fisichella's management team incorporated the Italian colours into the design and the helmet was realised by Jens Munser of JMD, a design he uses to this day. Whilst at Renault it featured a light blue ring. Once at Ferrari, his helmet turned black and grey.
In 2004, whilst racing for Sauber, Fisichella became the first driver in Formula 1 to have his
HANS device painted in his colours, Massa followed soon after and then the rest of the grid had theirs painted.
Sports cars
Fisichella made his
sports car racing debut in 2010 by driving for
AF Corse
AF Corse is an Italian auto racing team founded by former racing driver Amato Ferrari in 1995 in Piacenza. Strongly linked to the Maserati and Ferrari brands, AF Corse currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship, GT World Challen ...
in a
Ferrari F430 in the
Le Mans Series as well as briefly in the
American Le Mans Series
The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The American Le Mans' h ...
as part of the Ferrari deal he signed in mid-2009.
In 2011, Fisichella, co-driver
Gianmaria Bruni, and team
AF Corse
AF Corse is an Italian auto racing team founded by former racing driver Amato Ferrari in 1995 in Piacenza. Strongly linked to the Maserati and Ferrari brands, AF Corse currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship, GT World Challen ...
won both the driver's and team's championships in the LM GTE Pro class of the Le Mans Series, finished 2nd at the Le Mans 24hrs and won the 1000 miles of
Petit Le Mans and helped
AF Corse
AF Corse is an Italian auto racing team founded by former racing driver Amato Ferrari in 1995 in Piacenza. Strongly linked to the Maserati and Ferrari brands, AF Corse currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship, GT World Challen ...
win the team's championship in the
Intercontinental Le Mans Cup
The Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (shortened ILMC) was an endurance sports car racing tournament organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) started in 2010. .
In 2012 Fisichella was again with
AF Corse
AF Corse is an Italian auto racing team founded by former racing driver Amato Ferrari in 1995 in Piacenza. Strongly linked to the Maserati and Ferrari brands, AF Corse currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship, GT World Challen ...
and took part in the
2012 World Endurance Championship He won the season opener and came 2nd in the 6hrs of Spa.
In the 80th edition of the
24 Hours of Le Mans in 2012, Fisichella and the AF Corse Team scored first place in the GTE-Pro class along with his co-drivers
Toni Vilander and Gianmaria Bruni; their
Ferrari 458 Italia covered a total of 335 laps (2,845.53 miles), of the
Circuit de la Sarthe
The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 H ...
. Fisichella had the honor of driving the last stage of the competition.
After a difficult 2013 Fisichella moved to the TUSCC Series in America to race for Risi Competizione but returned to AF Corse and teammates Bruni and Vilander for the 2014 edition the Le Mans 24hrs. After a hard-fought race, they emerged victorious covering 339 laps, 4 more than their 2012 win tally. Fisichella then returned to America and won at Road America and Virginia International Raceway, he currently lies 8th in the GT Le Mans standings.
Open Wheel Racing
Fisichella in 2022 will compete in 1 round and 3 races at the 2022 Valo Adelaide 500 in the S5000 category. "I am thrilled to be coming back to Australia to race S5000 – at last,” he stated. "My Formula 1 career started literally a few weeks after the last F1 race in Adelaide. I have never driven on the circuit, which is now a slightly shorter version of the GP track.
am looking forward to it enormously. I expect the S5000 car will be fast there. I’m also thrilled to be driving with Team BRM, which has a great record in racing in Australia." The Adeliade 500 Chiefe Executive, Mark warren also stated “We are ecstatic to host ‘Fisi’ in Adelaide and have no doubt he’ll put on a show for all eventgoers, particularly the Formula 1 enthusiasts. "Fisichella brings quality experience from his driving pursuits in Formula 1, GT and sports car racing around the world and adds to the high calibre motorsport programme. We’re now just under a month to go until we hit the track and this latest signing kicks off a string of big announcements we expect to roll out in the coming weeks.”
Racing record
Career summary
Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft results
Complete International Touring Car Championship
† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
Complete Formula One results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
24 Hours of Daytona results
12 Hours of Sebring results
10 Hours / 1000 miles of Petit Le Mans results
Complete International Superstars Series results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in
''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete S5000 results
Personal life
Fisichella is related to the
so named Italian noble family, forming part of the
Sicilian nobility The Sicilian nobility was a privileged hereditary class in the Kingdom of Sicily, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the Kingdom of Italy, whose origins may be traced to the 11th century AD.
History
The Romans, Byzantines and Saracens exported di ...
.
Fisichella married Luna Castellani on 10 October 2009. They have three children: Carlotta, Christopher and Carolina.
He is a supporter of Italian
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...
side
Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
* Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
, and
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
of the official ''Nazionale Piloti''
association football team.
Fisichella has a cameo appearance in the 2019 film ''
The Art of Racing in the Rain'', playing a Scuderia Ferrari crew member in the closing scenes.
See also
*
Fisichella family
*
Fisichella (surname)
References
External links
The official website for Giancarlo FisichellaGiancarlo Fisichella profile and statisticsGiancarlo Fisichella statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisichella, Giancarlo
1973 births
Living people
People of Sicilian descent
Racing drivers from Rome
Italian racing drivers
Italian Formula One drivers
Minardi Formula One drivers
Jordan Formula One drivers
Benetton Formula One drivers
Sauber Formula One drivers
Renault Formula One drivers
Force India Formula One drivers
Ferrari Formula One drivers
Formula One race winners
Italian Formula Three Championship drivers
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
European Le Mans Series drivers
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers
Karting World Championship drivers
Italian expatriates in Monaco
American Le Mans Series drivers
Rolex Sports Car Series drivers
24 Hours of Daytona drivers
Superstars Series drivers
FIA World Endurance Championship drivers
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers
European Touring Car Championship drivers
Giancarlo
British Formula Three Championship drivers
Blancpain Endurance Series drivers
Asian Le Mans Series drivers
RC Motorsport drivers
AF Corse drivers
Tasman Series drivers