Giancarlo Fisichella emerged from the shadow of his team-mate, world champion Fernando Alonso, to win the Malaysian Grand Prix from pole position and secure a stunning one-two for Renault.
By Mike Fourie, News Ed.
Italian Giancarlo Fisichella emerged from the shadow of his team-mate, world champion Fernando Alonso, to win the Malaysian Grand Prix from pole position and secure a stunning one-two for Renault.
Compared with the fascinating denouement of the closely-contested Bahrain Grand Prix, which saw Alonso outfox a rejuvenated Michael Schumacher to take the chequered flag, the Malaysian Grand Prix was relatively uneventful. Dogged by technical problems, Ferrari seemed to lose the momentum it gained at Sakhir and Jenson Button’s Honda flattered to deceive, leaving the Régie’s duo to romp to victory at one of the most demanding circuits on the F1 calendar.
Can you remember Fisichella’s first grand prix victory? Back in 2003, the diminutive Italian was already a seasoned campaigner and he beat Kimi Raikkonen to win the accident-marred Brazilian Grand Prix. The race was red flagged after a big accident in its closing stages and officials initially named the Finn the winner even though Fisichella, driving a mediocre Jordan Ford, had taken the lead of the race.
The Italian’s second victory, at last year’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix, was attributed to a turn of good fortune. In Melbourne, Fisi completed his single qualifying lap just before a rain shower and, whereas his rivals qualified down the grid, he started from pole position and led the race from beginning to end. However, for the rest of 2005, Fisi often played second fiddle to Alonso, and, when the hapless Italian buckled under pressure and relinquished the lead of the Japanese Grand Prix to Raikkonen on the very last lap of the race, critics suggested Renault boss Flavio Briatore replace the Italian with talented test driver Heikki Kovaleinen for 2006.
Briatore was openly disappointed with Fisi’s driving at Suzuka, but remained loyal to the man who helped Renault clinch the 2005 constructor’s championship… Would that be a wise move? On hearing Fisichella blurt out some choice expletives during the TV coverage of the Bahrain Grand Prix, in which his car was hamstrung by hydraulic problems while Alonso’s car led the field, many thought the Italian would stay in the shadow of his team-mate until the end of days.
Granted, Fisichella gained an advantage when Alonso fell foul of a refueling glitch during the qualifying session at Sepang, but the Italian made the most of his grid position and saw off a mid-race charge from the plucky Spaniard. By scoring his third victory, Fisichella announced his status as a serious title contender in 2006.
Alonso’s start to the season (victory in Bahrain, second in Malaysia) has been near-perfect, and it’s only a matter of time before McLaren is consistently quick and Ferrari sorts out its iffy reliability, but based on Renault’s current form, Fisichella might be the only driver to give Alonso a run for his money – at least for now.
On Sunday, Button rarely threatened the Renaults and trailed home third for his first podium finish of the season, ahead of McLaren’s Juan Pablo Montoya, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and Schumacher, Jacques Villeneuve (BMW) and Toyota Racing’s Ralf Schumacher.
The mellowing Massa was impressive and used a one-stop strategy to move up from 19th on the grid. The Brazilian nonchalantly held off the seven-time world champion, who started 14th.
At the start, Alonso made a thrilling start and surged from se
