Now a veteran of over 200 Grand Prix starts, Giancarlo Fisichella had a traditional karting background before moving up to Formula Alfa Boxer in 1991. Fisichella then competed for three years in the Italian Formula 3 series, racing for RC Motorsport. He was runner up in 1993, but he clinched the title in 1994, the same year he took victory at the Monaco F3 race, as well as one of the two heats at Macau.

Switching to the International Touring Car Championship as a driver for Alfa Romeo in 1995 and 1996 didn't mean that his love for single seaters had diminished, and Fisichella duly made his Formula One debut in 1996 with Minardi.

Fisichella thrived when he moved to Jordan in 1997, taking a second place in the Belgian Grand Prix, even leading the German race before retiring with mechanical problems. Finishing the 1997 season in eighth place overall, he moved to the Benetton team for 1998. Here he achieved the first pole position as well as two second places.

The Italian appeared to be one of Formula One's rising stars at the time, but the 1999 season didn't turn out as planned. Finishing the season in ninth with only 13 points, Fisichella was hoping for a turn-around in 2000, something that failed to materialise. 2001 saw him partnered with Jenson Button but it was another tough season that saw him finish 11th in the standings.

After a dismal year Fisichella switched places with Jarno Trulli at Jordan where he started 2002 alongside Takuma Sato. Again it wasn't the season he was hoping for and when the Japanese Grand Prix came to a close in October, Fisichella had just seven points to his name. 2003 would prove little better even if he had won his first Grand Prix with a fortunate victory at Interlagos when the race was stopped as he took the lead. A fresh new challenge awaited Fisichella in 2004 at Sauber.

11th position with Sauber in the championship may not have been a dream result for Fisichella in 2004, but nine points paying positions was a reasonable result. The downfall of Fisichella's season was the team's inability to get the Bridgestone shod C23 to work well in qualifying conditions. As a result, Fisichella often started further back in the field, opting to run a heavy fuel load and gain places in the later stages of the race. It wasn't exciting, but it worked well for Fisichella.

The Italian found himself back at Renault in 2005 in what was a two-year deal with the Anglo-French outfit. Fisichella's season got off to a dream start as he claimed pole position and the race win in Australia but sadly for him, that was the highlight of the season. While team-mate Fernando Alonso claimed the championship and Renault the constructors' title, Fisichella would only appear on the podium twice more following his Melbourne win.

Out-paced by Alonso all season, Fisichella needed to turn this around in 2006 but it was more of the same from the Italian, despite an early win in Malaysia. Alonso fought his way to the title while Fisichella was unable to match the raw pace of his younger team-mate. Fourth place in the championship was not a great result but with team-mate Alonso heading off to McLaren Mercedes, Flavio Briatore signed Fisichella up on a one-year deal for 2007.

It was more of the same for Fisichella in 2007 although Renault's R27 was not as competitive as its predecessors. The Italian, now a veteran in the sport, started the season fairly well but the second half of the year saw him score just one more points paying result as Rookie team-mate Heikki Kovalainen was a regular top eight runner.

Keen to prove he still had plenty to offer, Fisichella moved to Force India in 2008 and while points were not a possibility, the Italian seemed to thrive in the low-pressure environment and recorded the team's best results of the season. He remains with the team in 2009 and will be looking to show the way to younger team-mate Adrian Sutil.