REPORT: Giancarlo Fisichella, meet your new Ferrari race seat
First thing this morning, no one knew who'd be replacing Luca Badoer in the second Ferrari alongside Kimi Raikkonen – in addition to Williams test driver Nico Hulkenberg and former Toro Rosso driver Sebastien Bourdais, the likes of current BMW driver Robert Kubica had been mentioned. Force India driver Giancarlo Fisichella's name has also been persistently mooted, but the scuttlebutt was consistently shot down by team principal Vijay Mallya.
Ah, Formula One. No sooner had Mallya quashed the rumor again that he then turned around and announced that Fisichella was indeed let go to Ferrari. This gives Fisi the race seat for the rest of the year and, according to Mallya, "will secure Giancarlo's long-term future with Ferrari." We have no idea what that could mean for 2010, since Ferrari already has Raikkonen and Massa, and supposedly Alonso to deal with currently.
Financial terms weren't announced, but it is suspected that in return for letting Fisichella go Ferrari forgave Force India's €4 million bill owed the Scuderia for the engine contract that the Indian team terminated last year. While Fisi gets five races to prove his worth in one of the best cars on the grid, now we get to wonder who will be Adrian Sutil's new teammate. Hat tip to everyone!
[Source: F1 Live | Image: John Thys/Getty]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
RX-8 1:26PM (9/03/2009)
Good for him. This has been his lifelong dream.
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AZZO45b 2:10PM (9/03/2009)
Happy for him as well... but AB calling the Ferrari F60 "... one of the best F1 cars" is quite laughable!!! The 2009 Top 3 are clearly the Brawn, Red Bull, & recently the McLaren.
If it wasn't for KERS one could argue the F60 wouldn't have won its 1st GP @ Spa.
mitchw 2:50PM (9/03/2009)
Maybe what Mallya was referring to was that Fisi might get to drive the third Ferrari in the field. There's been talk.
steve 1:30PM (9/03/2009)
f1.com says he will assume a "reserve role" for 2010
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ack154 1:27PM (9/03/2009)
So who's taking bets on Fisi's replacement?
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The FedEx Man 1:58PM (9/03/2009)
My money is on Liuzzi.
Pat 3:28PM (9/03/2009)
Villeneuve!
cdwrx 1:29PM (9/03/2009)
I'll do it!
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chan625 3:20PM (9/03/2009)
hehe go for it >>>>
apart from joking I think FI can still score some points in this season even if no podium
cause fisi cudnt have gained 2nd place with not so good car ofcourse Im not doubting his talents he is actually 3rd most experienced driver on the grid this season if im not mistaken
I wish him good luck.....its slightly sad for force india but they'll get over it
however i wonder what will ferrari do next season if say they cudnt run 3 cars...something tells me they wud still prefer alonso and massa over fisi unless fisi can pull off more of those miracles
John Johnson 1:30PM (9/03/2009)
You guys gotta follow up on this :p. Fisi will be Ferrari's test driver after this season. Tonio Liuzzi will be filling in his spot on Force India.
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CK 6:52PM (9/11/2009)
Anyone but Badoer is a big, big upgrade
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Redline 1:43PM (9/03/2009)
Isn't Fisi one of the oldest drivers on the grid anyway? Maybe "retitring" next year as a test driver for Ferrari won't be that bad.
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John Johnson 1:47PM (9/03/2009)
I'd say it's the perfect career exit. He gets to race the red car and then continue to work for the team, but with a role that has pretty good job security and doesn't have the pressure of being a GP driver and having to perform on race weekends. I wouldn't wanna go out any other way.
Zakspeed 2:06PM (9/03/2009)
My how things change quickly
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pio!pio! 2:07PM (9/03/2009)
Liuzzi should take the seat as he's the reserve driver
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MikeInNC 2:49PM (9/03/2009)
I agree with John above, a perfect exit for Fisi. Hopefully he will turn in some decent reusults. Regardless, he will be faster than Luca has been in the last two races.
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lgrunauer1 3:04PM (9/03/2009)
My money is on Badoer as the new driver for Force India. He's free now, isn't he? LOL!!
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chan625 3:23PM (9/03/2009)
haha yeah no one thought @ that possibility
John Johnson 3:26PM (9/03/2009)
+1 lol
Dennis Mendonca 12:20PM (9/04/2009)
Thats really uncharitable.