Giancarlo Fisichella - How do you rate him?

[Yoong Montoya]

I would say he is quite good, but for some reason no top team will take him. Do you have any idea why? Perhaps it's because he is too nice and lacks the killer instinct that the likes of Michael Schumacher and Montoya have.

I hope that he gets a drive with Ferrari, McLaren or Williams eventually. Otherwise we may never know how good he really is.

[BootsOntheSide]

I'm pretty sure he's as good as anyone except for Schumacher, Montoya and maybe Villeneuve or Raikkonen. he trounced Ralf when they were team-mates, trounced Button last year, destroyed Wurz's career, andcould well do the same to Sato.

In a top team he would be a real contender. If Michael retires after this season, Giancarlo could be in at Ferrari. I think it was just need one big crash, and not neccessarily for Michael himself, to make his consider headding off for the log fire and parent's evening lifestyle. Ironic that perhaps if Fisi's France crash had been wrose, that may have tempted him into retirement, and Ferrari like Fisi.

[Don K]

Amongst the 40 drivers who raced in Formula 1 since 1999, I rate him 10th.
That's between Villeneuve and Hill.

Of the current drivers, only Michael, Coulthard, Ralf, Montoya, Frentzen, Heidfeld, Button and Villeneuve are better.

[Jordi]

Fisico is obviously a good driver without a great car... and somehow he always manages a podium at Monaco, Canada or Spa!

[Sato san]

I rate Fisi near the top . Behind TGF , JPM , but right up with people like DC , Jacques etc

[EERO]

Originally posted by Don K
Amongst the 40 drivers who raced in Formula 1 since 1999, I rate him 10th.
That's between Villeneuve and Hill.

Of the current drivers, only Michael, Coulthard, Ralf, Montoya, Frentzen, Heidfeld, Button and Villeneuve are better.

Interesting list, but I'd say:
TGF
Montoya
Fisi
Ralf
DC
Raikkonen
Villeneuve
Panis
Heidfeld
Button
Frentzen

[Inigo Montoya]

I agree almost exactly with Eero, except I would switch Fisi and Montoya around - just give the nod to Fisi for now due to his experience.

[mac]

Yeah, I reckon Fisi is every bit as good as Montoya. JPM is lucky to have slotted straight into a strong team, without having to do time in a lower-placed team. Fisi deserves a strong seat. But the only time I can see an opening in the near future is if Ralf gets punted.

I'm not too sure that Ferrari are big fans of Fisi's after his public bagging of their failure to give an Italian a go. The fact remains he is a top line driver.

[DNQ]

Fisichella is vastly underrated and unnoticed. The fact that he is Italian is never going to help of course, he is now basically ruled out of a Ferrari drive - and I can't imagine that McLaren would take him on either. I really hope he gets his chance one day, he is very quick, and yes, I too say he is one of the best.

Button is in no way better - what about Benetton last year??? Villeneuve (when he's motivated), Michael and JPM are the only drivers who are better. Possibly Heidfeld - but as with Fisi, I havent seen him in a top car to decide.

[f1manoz]

I agree with everything DNQ had to say in his first paragraph. Grossly under-rated driver. His performances in the Benetton were always brilliant, despite having to drive a car worse than the previous one each year he was there. He's always beaten his team-mates, usually by considerable lengths, yet he's always being overlooked.

And unfortunately, his time may now be passing because of these new babies on the grid who seem to command attention nowadays.

I think it will be a tragedy if Fisichella never gets to have a top seat for just one season to prove how good he really is.

[Kretzman JB fan]

I'd say that he was a good driver put in a lot of unfortunate situations. I think he has a lot of talent to do what he has done with the Jordan this year. Considering the Jordan chassis and engine is off, I think he's done a good job. If he got a top ride he would wins some races, but I don't see anyone giving him a top ride.

[BootsOntheSide]

My top 10 of the current drivers would be

Michael
Montoya
Fisichella
Kimi
Villeneuve
Rubens
DC
Heidfeld
Frentzen
Ralf

[neilap]

GF is more than likely one of the top five drivers on the grid. What impresses me the most about him is how fast he is throught the entire race. He does not seem to drop off near the end like most of the other drivers. Maybe its conditioning. The car is getting better. Maybe with some good results for the remainder of the season he could cause FW to drop that other driver. There is really no room for GF now though is there? The top teams seem to be set for next year. Maybe if Jordan can keep the motors for one more year GF could impress Williams enough to drop RS.
Jordan may be worse off without Honda next year. Not just because of money but because the car will have to be completely rededigned for a Cosworth or whatever he could get. At this point we would hope they were already into the design of the EJ13. A new motor would mean more time spent developing the car and more time lost for GF.

[Maxmil]

Fisi is for sure in the top five of the actives, and maybe the top three. I feel we will never really be able to assess his true worth unless he gets a drive with one of the top three teams.

[Mania]

Sorry to say, But I dont agree with anyone's top 1o so far

Id got for..

1. Michael.
2. Ralf
2. Montoya
3. Kimi
4. Heidfeld
5. Fisicella
6. Villeneuve
7. DC
8. Barrichelo
9. Massa
10 Frentzen

Fisicella's a very good driver but there have always been rumours about him such as - he's too lazy, doesent concentrate as hard as he should, is too relaxed, and buckles under preassure.

Some of those could be true - then again they may not. But there has to be a reason why no top team has taken him on.

Maybe they know something the fans dont..Fisicella certainly deserves a shot - but team bosses may not think he's the type od driver who can get them the results they want.

[neilap]

Actually the only gripe I had with GF was his unwillingness to go for passes this year. I can understand it one point of view though. Jordan is scraping for points so he did not want to take too many risks because the only realistic goal for Jordan is 4th and even that is a stretch.
However the best measuring stick for any driver is his teammate. His record against them is impeccable. That would put him as the best because MS has an unfair advantage over RB. Also I would put RB in my top five too except for inconsistency. When he, RB fast he as fast as anyone but he just does not do it often enough.

[Mr V]

Originally posted by mac
Yeah, I reckon Fisi is every bit as good as Montoya. JPM is lucky to have slotted straight into a strong team, without having to do time in a lower-placed team.

Fisi is a good driver and proberbly in the top 10 drivers out there, but i don't get your statement mac, i don't see whats so lucky about a driver getting slotted straight into a top team, that driver (whoever it is, not just JPM) is in that "slot" because the team principals have decieded that that driver is good enough for the job.

Anyone ever asked themselves why Fisi has never actually been offered a top 3 team seat yet? or why Kimi was actually taken on at McLaren as oppossed to Heidfeld?

The team principals, who know more about F1 than us lot ever will know have decieded that JPM is worthy of coming straight into that seat, that Kimi proberbly has greater potential than Nick etc etc.

[Mr V]

Originally posted by mr v



Anyone ever asked themselves why Fisi has never actually been offered a top 3 team seat yet?

Rumour has it that Ferrari want Sauber to hire Fisi so they can get a closer look at him..........just goes to prove that even after all Fisi's experience in F1 so, far, Ferrari are still unsure! If they really wanted him and were confident of him, they could quite easily have not renewed Rubens contract and taken Fisi on, but they didn't.

[neilap]

Who gets hired and fired in F1 has as much to do with politics as with talent! Look at Jenson and GF both were kicked out of Renault. There are other drivers that do not deserve their seats but are there beause of name or nationality.

[Inigo Montoya]

I would agree with neiap here. Yoong, Zanardi, Michael Andretti and Sato are names that spring to mind.

The pressures of being an Italian driver in a Ferrari are extreme - maybe there are questions about Fisi's intestinal fortitude (though I don't have any doubt he would be WDC in a Ferrari).

[EERO]

Originally posted by neilap
Who gets hired and fired in F1 has as much to do with politics as with talent! Look at Jenson and GF both were kicked out of Renault.

Who lost out to drivers represented by the Team Principal, Flavio Flave!

I'd also argu that timing is everything. McLaren grabbed Kimi over Heidfeld because they wanted to keep him from going to Ferrari, while they still had Nick under contract-its a s simlple as that.

[Mr V]

Originally posted by EERO


McLaren grabbed Kimi over Heidfeld because they wanted to keep him from going to Ferrari, while they still had Nick under contract-its a s simlple as that.

Agree with that EERO, just goes to show how much the team principals think that Kimi is a future star, with regards to Nick though, Ron could quite easily have taken Nick for next season as opposed to DC, but didn't, why's that? is it because, that dispite having 2 rookies as team-mates in succession (Kimi and Massa), he hasn't dominated either of them, when given his experience in relation to both of them, maybe he should!

[EERO]

Yeah, I'll admit to being a Heidfeld fan, and last season started odff with a bang, but lately, he hasn't looked too impressive against Massa, who I do not rate very highly. Its a little worrysome.

[Legend]

Fisichella and Trulli are two great Italians which I believe have great potentiality. Sadly they are in not so good racers. It is about time we have an Italian among the best and I hope the top teams should open their eyes and realize it too.

[mac]

Fisichella is an amazing racer - and one of the few guys out there who will go for a pass. I would say the limiting factor on his overtaking attempts this year is the rubbish yellow lemon he is driving.

Mr V - of course it is fortunate to "slot" straight into a top team in your first year of F1. Plenty of outstanding drivers have never had that luxury (for various reasons). And it makes things much harder for their career to progress.