Fisichella to drive for Ferrari for the rest of 2009 season
Maranello, 3rd September 2009
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro announces that it has appointed Giancarlo Fisichella to drive car number 3 from now to the end of the 2009 season.
“We have chosen Fisichella because we can expect him to make a valuable contribution in this final part of the season,” commented Stefano Domenicali. “Giancarlo has shown, throughout his long career, that he is fast and competitive and we are therefore proud to be able to run an Italian driver in our home race. We wish to thank Luca Badoer for the team spirit he demonstrated in these circumstances: it is a shame he was unable to show his true worth in these last two races, tackled under conditions which anyone would have found difficult.”
Fisichella: “I’m in seventh heaven”
Today is a very special day for Giancarlo Fisichella. The racing driver from Rome arrived in Maranello to meet Stefano Domenicali in the afternoon, starting immediately with his work to get ready with the Scuderia for the race in Monza on the weekend after next.
The first step was to set up the F60’s cockpit for him. Later on Giancarlo met the technicians, who will work especially with him during the race weekend.
"I’m in seventh heaven," he told www.ferrari.com. "I still can’t believe it that the dream of my life comes true and I want to thank Ferrari and Chairman Luca di Montezemolo. Over the last week some really incredible things happened to me: the pole position and then second place at Spa and now I’m called by Ferrari to race the last five races of the season for them. I’ll give my best to recompense the Scuderia for this great opportunity they gave me: I know that it won’t be easy, but I’ll give it everything to gain the best possible results.
I want to say that I’m very sorry for Luca: I know how much he cared to race in Monza behind the wheel of a Ferrari, because this is the best thing that can happen to an Italian driver, to drive a red car in front of our fans."
"We chose Giancarlo, because we think that he can make a significant contribution in terms of points during the finale of this uncertain season,” Stefano Domenicali said. "Furthermore we considered what could be his role inside the team in the near future, also taking this year’s experiences into account. He will be the reserve driver in 2010. I want to thank Vijay Mallya and Force India F1 for giving Giancarlo the possibility to cancel his contract in such a happy moment for the team, allowing him to crown his dream as a driver. Now we have to concentrate on Monza, an event we really care for in a very special way: we know that it will be difficult to keep the performance level we had over the last Grands Prix, but we’ll give our best to entertain our fans and I hope there will be lots of them at the track to support us.”
A curiosity: Monza won’t be a proper debut for Fisichella behind the wheel of a Formula 1 Ferrari. Giancarlo was one of the four Italian drivers – together with Gianni Morbidelli, Luca Badoer and Pierluigi Martini – who tested in Fiorano on 27 September 1995 behind the wheel of a 412 T2: 14 years later the feeling when he passed through the gates in Maranello was definitely different.
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