Giancarlo Fisichella Q&A
A couple of years ago a wet track helped Giancarlo Fisichella take a surprise pole position for Benetton in Austria. Such an occurrence would be impossible this year, so far off a competitive pace is the team's current car. Renault's decision to push ahead and race prove its radical lowline engine was a logical one at the time, but nobody expected this season to be quite as tough as it has been. Having qualified as high as 16th in Malaysia Giancarlo has slipped back as other teams have made progress, and now finds himself fighting to stay off the back row. Still searching for his first win in his sixth season, he remains optimistic about the future. Adam Cooper spoke to the Italian
"A little bit. Obviously before the start of the season I expected a much easier first part of the season. I expected to be much more competitive. Now I'm a bit sad because we're not competitive enough and it's very difficult. And still there are the same problems with reliability and with the car. But we are working very hard, and soon I'm sure there is a big step, a big jump forward. Renault is back to win races, and if it's not now, I'm sure it will be next year."
"The biggest problem now is the engine. The power is a bit down, and reliability is a bit of a problem for us. We've got a few problems in the high speed corners with the car, because there's not enough downforce, but it's very good on the slow speed corners, it has very good stability. In a few races we'll have much more downforce. In the wind tunnel we saw there is quite a big improvement. As for the engine, we have to wait a little bit more, but we will have much more power than now."
"Not now, but soon or maybe next year it will be one of the strongest engines."
"It's changed quite a lot. The atmosphere, especially at the start of the season, was very good. All the people were pushing very hard, and even now it's the same. We are just waiting for the big jump."
"Again it's not good for now, but good for the future I'm sure."
"Yes, Michelin are doing very well, and they won in Imola. Especially on Sundays during the race they are much more consistent than Bridgestone, I think. We have to improve on Saturday, for qualifying they could be a little bit quicker, but I'm quite happy about the tyres."
"Yes, it's OK. It's the same thing for everyone, so it doesn't change anything for me. Maybe before it was a bit more fun to drive the car, because it was a bit more difficult. Now it's a bit too easy, especially under acceleration, because of traction control."
"It's nothing really, it's quite similar. You just push on the throttle a bit earlier, and the exit is a bit smoother."
"We had a few problems with the software, so we didn't use it in Spain. But when you use it it's quite easy, because you can just keep your foot on the throttle."
"Yes, it's one of my favourite circuits. I did well in the past, and I'm quite sure to improve my grid position there. I hope to be in the middle and not at the back, like the last few races. It's going to be quite good. I've got a very good feeling for the track, and it's very important to be very aggressive and very close to the guardrails and the kerbs. Maybe for the qualifying lap you just close your eyes! It's a very technical circuit, very tight."
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