Fisi wants out and starts by dropping his manager

Not 'appy.
By Phil Giles
March 12 2003

It's no secret that Giancarlo Fisichella wants to leave Jordan and drive for his national team, however comments made by the Italian show that he would rather it be sooner than later.

With the new season only one race in, Fisi already wants to leave at the end of 2003, for a fresh start elsewhere in 2004.  Ferrari is the Roman's first choice for next season.  He's clearly not happy with his time at Jordan but his time with Renault was also frustrating.  "In the last two years I’ve had my worst seasons in Formula One. That’s no good for me. I’m looking for a change at the end of the season." He Said.

As a start to his future aspirations, Fisichella has dropped Giampaolo Matteucci and has employed Enrico Zanarini,  the former manager of Eddie Irvine. "I was not too happy so I decided to change manager. I think Enrico will know how to revitalize my image. My career is not going backwards but it is a little bit stagnant right now. It is not good for my reputation."

Compared to 2002, Fisichella feels that the EJ13 is a step forward, however he feels it may not be enough to keep pace with the other teams.  "This year, the package is better, the car and the engine are more competitive than last year.  We took a step forward but I don't know if it will be enough compared with everybody else. The problem is that we don't have enough money to develop the car. It will be difficult to improve."

"I think that it will be another difficult year but I am looking forward to the future. My goal is to be in one of the three top teams. Actually, most of the drivers have contracts until 2004, except maybe for David Coulthard at McLaren. But we never know in F1, anything can happen!"

"It is the best time for Ferrari to have an Italian driver. They have the best car, they won three titles with Michael Schumacher and I think the Tifosis are waiting for only one thing: to see an Italian driver win with an Italian car!"