Q and A with Giancarlo Fisichella

Date published : 11 Sep 2009 - 14:46:41

Giancarlo Fisichella finished his first practice session as a Ferrari driver in a promising eighth place - ahead of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen - but things went less well in the afternoon at Monza, when he slipped to 20th.Nevertheless he was far closer to the pace than his predecessor Luca Badoer had been, and as he told the press afterwards, he was satisfied with his first day at Formula 1's most famous team.Q. How has your first day with Ferrari been?Giancarlo Fisichella: This morning when I was here at the track, especially going down to the car I was quite nervous, but concentrated. And it was great. I'm quite positive about the day, I just need to improve somewhere, but apart from that it's been a good day.Q. When you first went out in a Ferrari in front of the Italian crowd, how did you feel?GF: Well actually I was so concentrated when I was doing the first lap this morning I was more concentrated on the car than watching the people around the circuit. But for sure I felt them afterwards, especially when I walked around. They are very friendly. That's nice.Q. The Force India is obviously very quick here again, will you have any second thoughts if your old car ends up being quicker than you this weekend?GF: It's not surprising. Force India for the last couple of races was very strong, we made a step forward and my last race was fantastic. I knew it would be quick be here. I know they are probably lighter than us today in terms of fuel load, but for sure they will be competitive tomorrow.Q. What was the main change you felt in your new car?GF: It's a different circuit so it's difficult to say, as the level of downforce is much less. It's a different car so there is different reaction going into the corners. You work much more with the steering wheel and the switches compared to Force India. With Force India I was just concentrating on the driving, here I am quite busy. Tomorrow is going to be another important day for me. It's important to do another good amount of laps and do a little bit more.Q. It's your first time with KERS, how difficult is it to know when to charge and when to use it?GF: Well all session I've been in touch with my engineer, who's been very good on the radio and I was following him. It's not so difficult, you just have to be very concentrated on it. Today in the afternoon I was mainly doing the job on my own without the help of Rob [Smedley] on the radio, so I'm improving all the time and that's the right direction.Q. Is it nice to be back with Rob?GF: It's great to work with him, very good for me, because straightaway I've got a good feeling. He knows how I work, I know how he works.