Fisichella Joins 200 Club

Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella will become the ninth driver in history to reach the 200 race landmark when he lines up on the grid in Monaco on Sunday. The popular Italian will be wearing a special set of overalls emblazoned with a '200' logo to mark the occassion.

Fisichella began his Formula One career in 1996 with Minardi where he was promoted from test driver to the race seat for one season before moving to Jordan in 1997. Giancarlo starred for Jordan, his best results being a third in Canada and an impressive second at a soaking wet Spa.

His impressive driving saw him signed by Benetton the very next season and he stayed with the team until 2001 scoring fairly regular podium finishes over the four seasons he was with the Italian outfit.

Fisichella returned to Jordan in 2002, but was largely frustrated by the team's lack of progress. However, Jordan did provide Fisichella with one of his finest moments as a driver as he managed an unlikely victory in Brazil at a wet Interlagos circuit.

The win was not enough to keep the Italian at Jordan and he was signed by Sauber the following year for the 2004 season. Whilst he was with the Swiss team he was paired with Felipe Massa and often outscored the young Brazilian. But Fisi wanted more than just low point-scoring finishes and signed for a highly competitive Renault team in 2005 where he joined up with Fernando Alonso.

Things could not have started better for Giancarlo at Renault, he won his first race for the team at Australia in 2005. However, over the course of the season he found himself continually outpaced by Alonso as his title challenge fell away after several retirements due to technical faults.

In 2006 the car was more reliable and Fisichella memorably won in Malaysia, but again could not match Alonso who won the Championship for a second time, Giancarlo down in fourth in the final standings.

When Alonso left Renault for McLaren Fisichella found himself as number one driver in the team and would have been forgiven for thinking he had a chance at the title in 2007. But the car did not perform like it had the previous two seasons and Giancarlo could only finish eighth in the championship, a best result of fourth place at Monaco.

Frustrated at Renault, Fisichella signed for Force India last summer and has already shown his talent, getting good speed out of an average car. He will be looking to build on his recent good performances and hope that his 13th season in Formula One will not be an unlucky one.