Giancarlo Fisichella regrets never having the chance to race for the same team as Michael Schumacher as the Italian recalled competing against the seven-time world champion.
Most of Fisico’s Formula 1 career overlapped with Schumacher’s time in the sport, though he spent much of it racing further back on the grid. He enjoyed his most successful spell around the time the German’s first F1 spell was winding down, winning three races in the mid-2000s.
Fisichella was particularly impressive in the 2006 season, finishing fourth in the drivers’ standings having secured five podiums and failing to finish outside the points only twice. He is very much aware, though, that those number pale in comparison to Schumacher’s record.
“He was a great football fan and we regularly kicked a ball together,” he told Rai Italia when recalling his memories of competing with the stricken F1 legend. “As a colleague, he was an incredible opponent, and he rewrote the history of Formula 1.
“Having raced with him, he has given me so much, and the few times I came in front made me even more proud because he is a great champion. It is a cruel fate that someone who as a racer so often risked his life is badly injured while skiing.”
While he also raced for Jordan, Benetton and Mercedes in F1, Schumacher’s name is synonymous with Ferrari. Fisichella also got the chance to drive for the Scuderia, but that was for a handful of races in 2009 as a replacement for the injured Felipe Massa.
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The fact he never got the chance to call Schumacher his team-mate remains a regret of the Italians. He told Gazzetta dello Sport : “Unfortunately, I’ve never raced in the same team, it would have been useful to see his telemetry.
“But we shared so many great moments at races and with the drivers’ national team. Sometimes he would get out of the car or finish a football match and he didn’t even seem to have sweated.”
After his F1 career came to an end, Fisichella went on to become very successful in endurance racing. Highlights include two class victories at the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans and several other wins in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
