Fisichella fears Ferrari dream is over

Despite out-pacing a succession of highly rated team-mates - Jenson Button, Alex Wurz, Takuma Sato - the 29-year-old has failed to attract the attention of a top team, where he believes he could become a regular race winner.

"I look at Ferrari now and just know I could do a great job for them," he told The Sun. "The trouble is there is a lot of stigma attached to Italian drivers. People feel they are too emotional but I don't have that Latin temperament. I'm one of the calmest drivers in the pit-lane. Rubens is more Latin and emotional than me."

Fisichella scored his first points of the season at Austria last time out where he finished fifth, ahead of David Coulthard's McLaren. The Italian is still amazed that he was overlooked for the role of the Scot's team-mate after the team opted for Kimi Raikkonen when Mika Hakkinen decided to retire at the end of 2001.

"I will never understand why McLaren went for Kimi and not me," he lamented

Although Fisichella is in the first of a three-year deal with Jordan, he has a get-out clause in his contract that allows him to leave should one of the big teams come in for him. However, with Michael Schumacher and Barrichello tied to Ferrari until 2004 and Williams having options on Ralf Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya and Button, not to mention Brazilian hotshot Antonio Pizzonia waiting in the wings, there appears to be few avenues available to Fisichella in the near future.