Giancarlo Fisichella: ‘The handling is much more consistent’

After a long winter the F1 action got underway again in Melbourne last weekend, and the early signs are that the Force India VJM02 could be a competitive package this year, as the car was able to run on the pace of several teams that were out of reach last season.

In the end Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella missed out on the points, but at least the overall performance gave everyone considerable encouragement.

Giancarlo has always enjoyed his trip to Melbourne, and this year he was celebrating the 13th anniversary of his first GP start.

‘I won in 2005, so it’s a special track for me,’ he says. ‘It’s the track where I made my debut in 1996, and I’ve always got a great feeling when I go to Melbourne for the first race of the season. I like the atmosphere, I like the town and I like the circuit too. Usually something good happens in the first race.’

There was carnage at the first corner, and Adrian Sutil was one of the unlucky victims. But Giancarlo made it through safely and gained a lot of places.

‘It was a good start, I was just careful at the first corner. I managed to avoid the accident! Then I was quite surprised about my pace in the first stint, which was good. I was a bit unlucky with the safety car but because my strategy was very good, I planned to stop on lap 27-28.’

The safety car meant that Giancarlo had no choice but to come in, and he thus wasted the advantage of running with a heavy fuel load in the first part of the race. He then misjudged the location of the Force India pits and faced a long delay.

‘When I went to the pits I made a big mistake, it was just my fault, I have no excuse. I was convinced that as last year, we were always at the very end of the pitlane. So I was going there. When I realised it was too late, I just saw the guys in my colours. I lost lots of positions, and the possibility to score points.’

After that he dropped out of contention for the top eight, but he continued to keep up a good pace, despite having a few problems.

‘In the middle stint I had a problem with the car balance, I had a lot of understeer through all the weekend I had a problem with the rear locking. We set up the car so it was very stiff on the front. In the middle of the race there was more rubber down, and the rear picked up more grip, so there was a lot of understeer. I think the pace was quite positive, we showed we were quite close to the other people, and I think there was a possibility to score points.’

On the plus side Giancarlo was very happy to be running ahead of several other top runners, including his former team mate Fernando Alonso.

‘He was a little bit quicker, with less fuel than me, and he was struggling to overtake. That’s a good thing. Reliability looks very good, and this year the handling is much more consistent.

‘I think the power of the engine is pretty similar, but obviously we’ve got the gearbox and the package is a little bit better. Mechanically the car looks right, and has very good potential. We just need more downforce.’

Giancarlo admits that it could be a lot tougher in Malaysia, which is a more ‘traditional’ circuit: ‘Here we’ll know where we are. We know that it’s going to be more difficult than Australia. But I won in 2006, and it’s another great circuit, one of my favourites. There are a lot of very nice places, like the quick chicane and the other quick corners. The only problem is the heat is horrible, it’s too hot!’

There’s already been a heavy thunderstorm on Thursday afternoon, and more rain is forecast for later in the weekend.

‘Absolutely, there’s a good chance that anything could happen. But so far the main problem is our level of downforce, which is very low, and in the rain it could be a problem. But we’ll see.’

Button, Barrichello and Brawn Celebrate Victory

Brawn GP celebrate a dominate 1-2 at the Australian Grand Prix 2009. Button led from start to finish, whilst Barrichello had a bad start, but made his way back through the field to take second place. Trulli joined them on the podium, but was later handed a 25 second penalty, giving Hamilton third place.
Credit: Bridgestone Corporation

Sun Sets on Bourdais’ Qualifying Session

Bourdais and his pit crew during qualifying on Saturday. Le Seb finished the day in last place, almost half a second behind his rookie teammate Buemi. If it wasn’t for the Toyota penalties, and Hamilton’s gearbox change, he would be starting from the back of the grid.
Credit: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Lewis Bottoming Out in Melbourne

Lewis Hamilton struggles with the MP4-24 round Albert Park. During Free Practice today, Hamilton ended up posting the 16th and then the 18th fastest time, and was heard to be complaining about the car bottoming out so much he couldn’t actually focus on the braking zones. It looks like it might be a tough weekend for McLaren.
Credit: Bridgestone Corporation

Thursday Afternoon Preparations

The Red Bull team prepare their tyres ahead of the Australian Grand Prix weekend. This year, Bridgestone are changing the white stripes to green, and moving them to the sidewalls. They’ve also adjusted the compound selection so we’ll be watching drivers choose between softs and mediums, rather than adjacent compounds.
Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Jenson Debuts in Melbourne

Way back in 2000, Jenson Button made his F1 debut in the BMW-Williams at the Australian Grand Prix. He qualified at the back of the grid, and gradually made his way through the field, thanks in part to retirements and pit stop errors on the part of others. At one point he was up to third, although had dropped to sixth before his engine failed with just 11 laps remaining.
Credit: BMW AG

02-Jan-09: Di Resta Wants a Seat at Force India

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Welcome to F1 Minute for the 2nd January 2009.

News is still a bit thin on the ground, so I have two pretty tenuous stories for you today.

Firstly, DTM driver Paul di Resta, who was hoping for a race seat at Force India this year, still believes he could get into Formula 1 now that McLaren are involved. He said: “There’s still a bit of talking to be done before I’ll be able to confirm exactly what I’m going to be doing. One important thing is that F1 remains a possibility.” He adds he’s not giving up on the dream of turning up to Melbourne as an F1 driver.

Elsewhere, Michael Schumacher has been reported as saying that if Lewis had lost the 2008 title in the last race, just like he did in 2007, it would have done some serious damage to his reputation. He’s quoted: “If it happens to you once it is an anecdote but when it happens to you twice it is starting to become a habit. If we saw the championship title slip through his fingers again in the final round it could have been an ill omen for the rest of his career.”

That’s it for today, please join me again on Monday for a new week of F1 Minute.

27-Nov-08: Webber Hopes to Return to the Track in February

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Welcome to F1 Minute, it’s the 27th November 2008.

Webber has confirmed that he hopes to be back in action in February. Speaking about his injuries and recovery, he said that both bones in his lower leg were broken which does complicate things, but he’s starting the slow process to being well again: “At the moment there is pressure and swelling whenever I stand up. There is talk it will be like that for the next two or three weeks and come the first week of February we should be on target for me to be able to walk unaided.” He hopes to get back in the car and be fully fit by the season opener in Melbourne.

Elsewhere, organisers at Donington Park hope the British GP in 2010 can be a car free event, with every spectator arriving by public transport. They say that buses will be available from nearby towns, plus there’s East Midlands airport and a railway station set to open. For an F1 race, it doesn’t seem to fit for organisers to say: “We are not bringing cars here.” Nevertheless, it fits with the current green initiatives.

That’s it for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.

28-Apr-08: An Update on Heikki’s Condition After Barcelona Crash

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Hi everyone, this is F1 Minute for the 28^th April.

An update on Heikki Kovalainen after his big crash in Barcelona this weekend. He stayed in hospital overnight, but should be released today. Heikki said he had no recollection of the crash or what happened immediately afterwards, so he has to trust McLaren’s version of events. They say it was possibly a stone that got into the wheel and caused the sudden tyre deflation. Nevertheless, Heikki said he had a headache and a stiff neck but was otherwise okay, and he’s going to concentrate on getting better so he can pass the FIA medical to be allowed to race in Turkey.

Elsewhere today, Williams have bought a stake in a company called Automotive Hybrid Power Limited, who research and develop energy recovery technologies. The team are obviously preparing for the introduction of KERS from next year, and are perhaps now one step ahead of some of the competition.

Two quick snippets to finish, Davidson has said he is preparing for Turkey as normal, despite not knowing whether his team will race, and Sydney are prepared to evaluate whether they could host F1 instead of Melbourne.

That’s all for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.