was it ever understood: Fisichella Ferrari disaster

[windwaves]

It is a question that I asked myself from time to time.

What on earth happened there ? How is it possible that he never ever managed to put together 2 corners in a Ferrari ?

I mean he was never an ace, but at Renault he did a couple of decent races. And I doubt Ferrari would have hired him unless they thought he could do some good.

Suggestions ?

[Greig]

Was he all that bad? Badoer was the disaster.

[ferrari4life]

I thought it was good will gesture for Italians

[RedPassion]

The car was a dog and Massa and Raikkonen were genious.

[Suzie]

The car that year was rotten and he was thrown in at the deep end. It really showed off that year what Kimi and Felipe were achieving prior to Hungary.

[Nero Horse]

It is a question that I asked myself from time to time.

What on earth happened there ? How is it possible that he never ever managed to put together 2 corners in a Ferrari ?

I mean he was never an ace, but at Renault he did a couple of decent races. And I doubt Ferrari would have hired him unless they thought he could do some good.

Suggestions ?

I wouldn't call Fisichella's performance in 2009 a "disaster" , he did fairly well actually. Now Badoer's 2 races for us are a completely different story.

[DIEK]

The F60 was a bad car and difficult to drive. Also he had a little time for getting used to the car, and at that time I think the Ferrari simulator wasn't very advanced.

[GrndLkNatv]

I also think that Fisico was at a point in his career where doing F1 all the time wasn't an interest anymore.. I think he enjoys AF Corse much more and we all know he and Gimmi get along so well that with Toni and Matteo, the team is just unbeatable. Plus Fisico get's some time to spend with his wife and daughter which is very important to him..

[Nova]

The car that year was rotten and he was thrown in at the deep end. It really showed off that year what Kimi and Felipe were achieving prior to Hungary.

Def agree, plus he's been doing very well in the 458's WEC series.

[Rob]

I also think that Fisico was at a point in his career where doing F1 all the time wasn't an interest anymore.. I think he enjoys AF Corse much more and we all know he and Gimmi get along so well that with Toni and Matteo, the team is just unbeatable. Plus Fisico get's some time to spend with his wife and daughter which is very important to him..

Fisi will be racing for Risi Competizione with year, and Toni will make step into #51 with Gimmi.

[wisepie]

The car that year was rotten and he was thrown in at the deep end. It really showed off that year what Kimi and Felipe were achieving prior to Hungary.

Such a shame that Fisi never really reached his full potential in F1 and Ferrari at that time were in a bit of a desperate situation with the car and Felipe's condition. I wouldn't call it a disaster, just a very unfortunate set of circumstances where Fisi was expected to pick up from Felipe with little experience in a poorish car. Glad he's found success in the 458 Italia, I bet he's proud. As for Badoer, not his fault as his race experience was lacking and again the car didn't help, but at least they tried to put an Italian in a Ferrari and thanked him for his years of service. It just didn't work for him or for us!

[Rob]

Such a shame that Fisi never really reached his full potential in F1 and Ferrari at that time were in a bit of a desperate situation with the car and Felipe's condition. I wouldn't call it a disaster, just a very unfortunate set of circumstances where Fisi was expected to pick up from Felipe with little experience in a poorish car. Glad he's found success in the 458 Italia, I bet he's proud.

From couple years ago...

Giancarlo Fisichella: Winning GTE Pro at 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours beats Formula 1 achievements
By Sam Tremayne Sunday, June 17th 2012, 15:09 GMT

AF Corse Le Mans podiumGiancarlo Fisichella says realising his dream of winning at Le Mans outranks any of his three Formula 1 grand prix victories.

The Italian's chances of achieving that ambition appeared to take a severe knock on Wednesday when he crashed at the Porsche curves in free practice, damaging his Ferrari to such an extent that the #51 AF Corse needed a brand new chassis, the preparation of which caused the team to miss nearly all of qualifying.

Starting from the back of the grid, the 458 made quick progress and by the fourth hour was part of a three-way fight for first place. As its rivals suffered a variety of ailments, the #51 car moved into a clear lead which it held until the chequered flag.

"I won a few races in Formula 1, but winning [Le Mans] was my dream and it feels great," Fisichella said. "The dream came true. I have to say thank you to my team-mates Gianmaria [Bruni] and Toni [Vilander] - they did a fantastic job and together we made a great race."

Fisichella also paid tribute to the AF Corse squad, after the team prepared the new chassis – shipped overnight on Wednesday from Italy – in just 10 hours.

"It was an amazing race, but it didn't start well. The crash, it was bad. We were competing again in something like 10 hours though, so I have to say 'thanks very much' to the team."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/100467

When the team got the car out again, i did have tears in my eyes.

[wisepie]

Grazie Rob, and long may it continue!

[fratelliferrari]

It is a question that I asked myself from time to time.

What on earth happened there ? How is it possible that he never ever managed to put together 2 corners in a Ferrari ?

I mean he was never an ace, but at Renault he did a couple of decent races. And I doubt Ferrari would have hired him unless they thought he could do some good.

Suggestions ?

As said above too, I heard some stories that the F60 was undriveable. Fisi drove only a few races for us and that's too little to adapt to a whole other car.

[GrndLkNatv]

834.jpg

Fisi will be racing for Risi Competizione with year, and Toni will make step into #51 with Gimmi.

Yes, this year Fisico is racing with Risi

[impactX]

He finished 2nd right behind Kimi at Spa in a Force India (and very close to winning the race). He wasn't the disaster, a combination of Massa getting injured, MS not ready medically to race and Badoer not performing were.

[Kiwi Nick]

In 2006 we were in Rome, having dinner in the same restaurant as Fisico. My daughter, who was 17 at the time, had a crush on him. Being somewhat forward, and acting against my advice, she went to his table to ask for an autograph. She tried to speak to him in Italian (big mistake). He spoke to her in English. He was the nicest fellow you would ever want to meet. He spoke to her for a few moments gave her an autograph. For my daughter the rest of the trip to Italy didn't matter. She still has the autograph, in a frame on the wall of her real estate office in Colorado.

[IulianFerrari]

In 2006 we were in Rome, having dinner in the same restaurant as Fisico. My daughter, who was 17 at the time, had a crush on him. Being somewhat forward, and acting against my advice, she went to his table to ask for an autograph. She tried to speak to him in Italian (big mistake). He spoke to her in English. He was the nicest fellow you would ever want to meet. He spoke to her for a few moments gave her an autograph. For my daughter the rest of the trip to Italy didn't matter. She still has the autograph, in a frame on the wall of her real estate office in Colorado.

Nice story, it really is.

[GrndLkNatv]

Fisi is just a class guy!!! Gimmi, Toni, Matteo, all of them are just class. My son Andrew in the photo has his autograph on the wall here in Colorado too..

In 2006 we were in Rome, having dinner in the same restaurant as Fisico. My daughter, who was 17 at the time, had a crush on him. Being somewhat forward, and acting against my advice, she went to his table to ask for an autograph. She tried to speak to him in Italian (big mistake). He spoke to her in English. He was the nicest fellow you would ever want to meet. He spoke to her for a few moments gave her an autograph. For my daughter the rest of the trip to Italy didn't matter. She still has the autograph, in a frame on the wall of her real estate office in Colorado.

[nash929]

Fisi was thrown in a car that took Felipe and Kimi a significant number of races to acclimatize to.