September 4, 2009

Rule of Thumb: in Formula 1, NO means YES

When just over twenty four hours ago Vijay Mallya declared that the has been no contact with Ferrari and Fisichella was looking forward to driving for Force India at Monza, what he really meant was, it's a done deal.
Of course when yesterday he declared that there had been no financial quid pro quo with Maranello, what he meant was: yes, we made a deal for that 2008 engine bill I still have not paid.

I don't think for a second that Ferrari paid 4.5 million, the rumored amount outstanding debt from Force India, for Fisichella's services but I'm sure some restructuring and accommodations were made.
It is also interesting to note that Fisichella had a "per point" contract with Force India, apparently at 200000 Euro per. Fisico scored eight points in Belgium and might have scored more at Monza. He may have actually just bought his way out of the Force India contract!

Luca di Montezemolo in an interview to Italy's RAI 1 declared he chose Fisichella because he's "in good form, he's experienced and especially because he's Italian" . Again, one can't help being skeptical, Fisichella has been passed over by Ferrari all these years, despite "being Italian" for quite a while now.

Ferrari needed a driver with no prospects for the future and who would not demand a racing seat in 2010, this is certainly why Kubica, for example, was not chosen. Then again, Di Montezemolo stated Fisichella will be "Ferrari's third driver" in 2010, most likely this just means he will be the reserve driver but, who knows, maybe the three car team option will materialize at which point Fisichella will be set aside until Schumacher decides if his neck looks best with a HANS or a tiger claw necklace around it.

Everyone is happy for Fisichella, he's been a consistent driver who never quite got the right ride at the right time and in this whole affair is the only guy who's words can be taken at face value, when he says driving for Ferrari is a dream come true, he really does mean it.




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9 comments:

  1. I'm very interested to see what he can do, especially considering he's typically been stuck in inferior cars for a lot of his career. How crazy of an end to the season would it be if he brought back a lot of competition from the Ferraris?

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  2. Inferior cars? Wasn't he in the 2005 and 2006 championship winning Renaults? I think Kimi is gonna wax the floor with Fisi.

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  3. yes, he was Alonso's team mate, I said consistent, not dominant :)

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  4. I'm sure when he was @ Renault he got inferior equipment just like Jr....

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  5. Dear Mr AOO: That is some really great analysis. Thanks

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  6. In terms of resources, my guess is the Alonso got much of the resources from Renault over Fischi.

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  7. This is interesting, do you think Fisi harbors any rage over suzuka '05? Took fisi's glory on the final lap while fisi's race engineers sighed in discomfort. Still the iceman's finest race in my opinion.

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  8. @Do Not Break: lol even moreso than that, I liked how Fisi kept saying "I was quicker than Kimi" in Belgium. I wonder how much quicker he will be in identical equipment?

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  9. Its all good for Fisi. He is in the sunset of his career. The only thing he has to do is be quicker than Luca; and that's a given...

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