Italian Grand Prix Preview

So to Monza it is.......The Italian Grand Prix! This is normally "silly season" time. The driver market goes mad as Ferrari announces their driver line-up for the following year. Will it be the same this year? Well Ferrari started early by announcing the signing of Giancarlo Fisichella as `09 driver and `10 reserve driver. This, however, does not mean the end for Fisichella. The team has announced that he will be able to race for another team.....if that’s a formula one team or some other remains to be seen. This will keep him race sharp incase Ferrari are required to recall him. Maybe we will see him returning to yet another previous squad. He returned to Renault after racing under it's old banner, Benetton in 1998-01. The same with Force India when he raced under the Jordan name in 1997. Could we see the experienced Italian spend his 15th Formula one season at the current BMW spot?

 After winning the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix, Giancarlo moved from Jordan Grand Prix to race for Peter Sauber's formula one team. He took points on nine occasions for the team and finished 11th in the drivers championship. If Peter Sauber breaks down BMW's resolve and takes control of his former team, he would need an engine supply. Since 1997, the Sauber team ran with Petronas-badged Ferrari engines, which shows he knows how to deal with the car giant. He used to work it by running a Ferrari driver in one of his seats in return for free engines. In 2000, Mika Salo found a seat at the team after covering for Michael Schumacher in 1999. Salo continued his Ferrari career in GT racing and still races for them today. Nicola Larni tested and raced for the Scuderia in 1994 and landed a Sauber seat in 1997, even if it was for a few races. Even a full time Ferrari driver did his stint at Sauber........Felipe Massa landed a seat in 2002 and then in `04 and `05 after spending a year testing in-between. With Ferrari wanting to keep Fisichella race sharp and Peter Sauber, or any other buyer, after cheap engines, then would this not be the perfect arrangement?

With Fisichella moving, this gives Force India test driver, Tonio Liuzzi, a chance to prove himself. After some strong showings at Toro Rosso, he was muscled out to be replaced by Sebastian Vettel. As an Italian, a strong showing at Monza would be a dream but will be just a dream?


With a strong Mercedes engine in the back of a strong aerodynamic package on the car (this was shown at Spa), then he has his best chance in Formula one yet. Could we possibly have two Italians on the podium in Italy? I feel this is not possible due to Liuzzi's inexperience in the 2009 spec car and also his skill. I do feel he may score points but Sutil would beat him overall and possibly score the second set of points for the Force India team.

Fernando Alonso's deal with Ferrari is set to be announced at Monza but until this is done, the driver market is on hold. Kimi will then move on and so on......but untill then, no-body knows.

Other news from this week is that Jarno Trulli has said he does not want to predict any Toyota victories after missing out in Spa. This shows everyone the attitude of a driver who wants to leave the team and if he does, I feel that will be the end of his formula one career. He has always been poor in his race performances compared to qualifying and has been called a moving road block in his time in grand prix racing. Maybe it is time for him to move on and give a youngster a chance. If Toyota wants an experienced head in their car, then there are plenty of other drivers who will be able to race better than Trulli and scored the constant points that are needed to keep the company on the grid.