Fisichella demands improvements
Giancarlo Fisichella wants Renault to build him a car which he can drive to the world title.
He has watched team-mate Fernando Alonso walk off with the Formula One crown after a season of consistent performances.
And the amiable Italian is currently under pressure having lost a breathless Japanese Grand Prix to Kimi Raikkonen, whose charge from the back of the field proved irresistible.
But Fisichella, who has driven for the team in their previous guise of Benetton, claims a series of problems have scuppered any title bid – the biggest of which he puts down to a car which does not suit his driving style.
He said: “I was struggling a little bit this year to drive the car which was built fr Fernando’s style of driving, which is really aggressive.
“I asked the engineers for what I want for next year so it should be better for me next year.
“I have more experience in the team [than Alonso], I have more experience with the package, for sure, and in winter testing I will be working to improve what I need from the car.”
Fisichella has borne the brunt of the team’s few reliability issues and failed to build on his flying start to the season when he won the Australian Grand Prix from pole position.
But he believes that he was missing the rub of the green which all champions-elect need.
“The start of the season was fantastic and then I had a lot of mechanical and technical problems, and I didn’t score enough points to fight for the championship,” he said.
“That makes me a little bit sad but that’s life. To win obviously you need to finish the race and from the second race to the middle of the season I scored just two points because of lots of problems.
“Fernando won the championship, he had a fantastic season, but on my side when I was racing without any problems I did a good job.
“I won in Australia, I was consistent, but the one other race when I had no problem at all was Monza where I started eighth and finished third, and in the last race too I was able to win but Kimi was really quick.”
Now the 32-year-old is looking to help Renault pip McLaren for the constructors’ title, which the Anglo-French outfit lead by two points.
So far this weekend, though, he has not been able to match the pace of Alonso and the McLaren pair, Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya.
“I am looking forward to winning points for the constructors’ championship,” he added.
“It’s going to be difficult because McLaren are really strong. Maybe Kimi is the favourite for this race and Montoya is a little bit less because he will be the first guy out in qualifying.
“We have scored the most points at the moment because we have had better reliability.
“They have the better car, the quicker car, but maybe they are on the limit.”
