By FIA Press Conference
September 10 2004

Giancarlo Fisichella talks about SAUBER's recent performances and his pending move to Renault in the FIA Thursday press conference before the Italian Grand Prix. Q: Giancarlo, Sauber is looking quite strong towards the end of the season. What are your hopes for these last four races and particularly this weekend?

Giancarlo FISICHELLA: Honestly, the team, Sauber, did a fantastic job in the last few months, especially with the new wind tunnel. They are working well and from Silverstone, with the new bodywork, we made a big step forward, so we can easily score points everywhere. Now I am very concentrated for the rest of the season to do my best to keep the sixth place in the championship for Sauber and we are quite optimistic to do well on Sunday.

Q: Can I talk to you about the performance of the tyres, because your tyres are basically the tyres that are developed by Michael. Do they suit your car reasonably well? Are you happy you have had good performance from your tyres this year?

GF: I am really happy about the Bridgestone tyres, especially in the race distance. They are very consistent from the first lap to the end, which is very important. The balance of the car stays very similar and so I am quite confident, even for Sunday. We are still struggling a bit on the first lap, we are not competitive enough so the qualifying session is a bit tough for us, but the race, our pace, is quite consistent and that’s very important to go through to the end and score some points.

Q: Next year you are going to Renault and they qualified first and third in Spa. Did that give you good feelings for next year?

GF: It was a good feeling but it was a different qualifying session. It was wet and they were the only two drivers who went out with the intermediate tyres and maybe it was the best moment if you talk about the circuit performance. But I can see Renault is doing very well, they are on a programme, they have very good potential and I am confident for the future.

Q: You were at Renault for four years before. What is different about Renault, what attracted you back to Renault this time around?

GF: It was Benetton and then just one year with Renault. But, yeah, I am really, really happy. I think they are pushing very hard to be competitive, to win. Most of the engineers and mechanics are still the same as a few years ago so it is very important to move to a new team and find the same people because it is very important to be more comfortable at the beginning, to know how they work, so it is going to be easier for me.

Q: Your career has not always taken you into the right team at the right time. Is there a reason for this - is it management or is it just bad luck?

GF: I don’t know but now I am sure I am in the right moment in the right team.

Q: Has it been a help to have (manager) Mr (Enrico) Zanarini on your side?

GF: Of course, yes. He did very well. Now I am just concentrating on my work, I just prepare myself, do lots of training and I think just about my job. Zanarini is doing very well and it is even because he did a good job that I am now in Renault next year.

Q: I think many of us are interested to know just how close you came to being with Williams for next year.

GF: I was very, very close, honestly, yes. But I hope I made the right choice, first of all because at the moment Renault are quicker than Williams and they are second in the championship and then, as I told you, because most of the people are still the same as a few years ago and it’s very important to go there and feel comfortable straight away.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR:

Q: (Peter Windsor) Giancarlo, correct me if I am wrong, but at Indy this year you had a sudden deflation but that did show up on the tyre pressure sensor and I think they managed to get a radio message to you just before the tyre went down. Is that correct?

GF: Yeah, yeah. Maybe we did too many laps, in fact it was just my last lap before the pit stop but unfortunately I had a puncture. I lost pressure, I don’t know why.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi - Gazetta dello Sport) Giancarlo, the tyres here in Monza, you had a problem in June, I think, so coming here to this fast track are there worries not only for the tyres but also other parts like wings and suspension?

GF: I had a problem in June but it was a different tyre specification. Here we have a completely different tyre specification than we had in June so we are quite optimistic for the weekend and I believe in the Bridgestone choice. Last week we did lots of laps, even long runs with tyres, and the performance was okay.

Q: (Bob Constanduros) Andrea also talked about car parts, as well. Are there any worries about car parts?

GF: Well, honestly, no. In the last few months we did a good job in the factory after the suspension failure in the middle of the season, in Canada and Monza in testing, they did a very good job and now the suspension is much, much stronger and in the last few races and testing we have done lots of miles without problems.

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