Fisichella joins Ferrari

M

MAGNeT

Skilled
After days of speculation, the truth has finally emerged. Giancarlo Fisichella will join Ferrari after intense discussions between the Force India management, Fisichella & his associates as well as Team Scuderia Ferrari with immediate effect. His first race for team Ferrari will be at Monza, its home race.

In a press release issued by the team, team principal and Chairman, Dr Vijay Mallya said, 'Giancarlo and his management team approached me yesterday with the proposal from Ferrari. For any Italian driver, a Ferrari race seat is a long-held dream and for Giancarlo it was no exception. No one should stand in the way of this.Furthermore the agreement will secure Giancarlo's long-term future with Ferrari and it would beincorrect to jeopardise this, particularly when Giancarlo has made such a vital contribution to Force India.'

He also clarified that there was no financial transaction involved between his team and Ferrari and that the move was done in 'good faith'. Sources within the fraternity however seem to suggest the deal was done as Force India did owe some money for the Ferrari engine deal last season, and therefore the possibility of a transaction were slim.

This move marks the end to all the speculation that was rife on the paddock at Spa after Felipe Massa's stand-in and Ferrari test driver, Luca Badoer failed to perform for the second consecutive race. Badoer's 14th and last was in contrast to team mate Kimi Raikkonen's win at Belgium last weekend. Incidentally, Kimi had a long fought battle with Giancarlo Fisichella at the same race and called in for all his resources to stave off Fisichella, who eventually finished second.

The 36-year old's strong pole qualifying performance and the first points for Force India did not go unnoticed by the Scarlet team, who were quick to make their move over the week. While Fisichella is currently being employed until the end of the season, it is not known if he will fill into Raikkonen's shoes, who is speculated to be looking at pastures outside F1.

Meanwhile, Force India will find the going tough as it tries to fill in a driver for car number 21. Vitantonio Liuzzi, the test driver looks like a strong contender, but the team hasn't confirmed the news yet.
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Fisichella joins Ferrari
 
starchazer said:
Respect for Dr.Mallaya for his generosity. I am sad though as I had much hopes for the coming races.

GL to both of them.
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he is a business man, though he insists that there was no monetary gain and this was not a business decision but still I somehow feel that there is more than what meets the eye......

Its the drivers that win races, I am not sure whether Force India would be able to get any competent driver for the remaining season......
 
seems like luizzi will take his place in fi. i was really looking forward to fisi driving a fi in monza as he would have done well there with the current package. lets see how things pan out.
 
FI already is in debt with Ferrari from their last year's engine deal. So if this settles that (which was suggested by FO of FI ), its financial gain to FI.

Well, lets see what Fishi is really made off in Monza :p

He always wanted to do this, he got his chance, and honestly its win win for both parties at this point in the season.
 
Greenie, that article is five days old, Mallya said that immediately after the race so the comments are actually even older....
 
cranky said:
Greenie, that article is five days old, Mallya said that immediately after the race so the comments are actually even older....
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vb86 said:
^ that article is from monday
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man I've been so sloshed due to Onam I've totally lost track of time. Whoops :ashamed:
 
nanoneo said:
Force India has confirmed it officially

They are going to find it tough to find a new driver. Thanks to the testing ban it's going to be hard to get him to perform even if they find a good replacement.
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Liuzzi is already a test driver for FI. He will probably drive for FI for the rest of the season. Anthony Davidson is also a possibility since he had already "offered his services" to Ferrari to take Luca's spot.
 
Great for Fisi!

I'd have to agree with thebanik on this one though. Mallya had a 2 yr engine deal with Ferrari last year, but things got sour between the two and the Ferrari engine was highly unreliable. I'm guessing sending Fisi over to Ferrari somehow balances out the financial debt that FI owed Ferrari at the end of last year when they switched over to a Mercedes engine.
 
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