Giancarlo Fisichella admits he still hasn’t taken in the news that his lifelong dream of racing for Ferrari is set to become a reality at the Italian Grand Prix in just over a week’s time.
The Maranello squad confirmed on Thursday that it had signed Fisichella to race alongside Kimi Raikkonen for the remainder of the 2009 season, after securing the Italian’s release from his Force India contract.
The announcement capped a fairytale week for the 36-year-old veteran, who played a starring role in last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, taking pole position for Force India and narrowly missing out on an improbable victory.
“I’m in seventh heaven,” he said.
“I still can’t believe it that the dream of my life comes true and I want to thank Ferrari and chairman Luca di Montezemolo. ITV
“Over the last week some really incredible things happened to me: the pole position and then second place at Spa and now I’m called by Ferrari to race the last five races of the season for them.”
Fisichella arrived at Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters on Thursday afternoon to meet team principal Stefano Domenicali and to begin preparing for his Monza debut. The first step was to set up the F60’s cockpit for the Roman, who then met the technicians he will work with during the race weekend. Formula 1
“I’ll give my best to recompense the Scuderia for this great opportunity they gave me: I know that it won’t be easy, but I’ll give it everything to gain the best possible results.”
“I want to say that I’m very sorry for Luca,” said Fisichella. “I know how much he cared to race in Monza behind the wheel of a Ferrari, because this is the best thing that can happen to an Italian driver, to drive a red car in front of our fans.
Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali, meanwhile, made it clear that Fisichella would remain the team’s reserve driver in 2010.
“We chose Giancarlo, because we think that he can make a significant contribution in terms of points during the finale of this uncertain season,” Domenicali said. Auto Racing Daily
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