Ferrari have never called, says Fisichella

Giancarlo Fisichella has explained that, despite much speculation, he has not been in touch with Ferrari with regards to being a driver for the Italian team ahead of its home Grand Prix next month. Despite admitting that the opportunity would be a dream, the Roman states that the prospect is currently no more than that.

With Luca Badoer currently standing in for the injured Felipe Massa at Ferrari, the test driver's performance was generally regarded as below par in Valencia last weekend as a Ferrari qualified slowest on merit for the first time in Formula One history before finishing last, a lap down, in Sunday's race.

"There is quite a lot of speculation on that," Fisichella told Autosport of his apparent links with the Scuderia. "I think there are a lot of rumours, and I have seen my name on the top of the list everywhere, but Ferrari didn't call me so for me it's nothing; if they had called me I could say something more but I have not contacted them - I'm a Force India driver, it's as simple as that."

The Badoer mishaps continued when arriving in the Spa paddock on Thursday as the Italian battled his way through security at the paddock entrance after losing his access card. Was Fisichella taken aback by the on-track showing in Spain?

"I thought Luca was able to do much better than that, even though he hasn't driven in the last few months, but he was struggling quite a lot," Giancarlo replied. "Obviously there was a lot of pressure for him with the new circuit and everything; probably here is going to be better but he needs to have a big improvement compared to the last race."

Fisichella is currently managed by Enrico Zanarini, a former manager of Eddie Irvine; could his contacts from the Irishman's time at Ferrari be of any assistance to a possible drive for his current driver? "He has a lot of friends," Fisichella added. "I have a lot of friends too. Stefano (Domenicali, Team Principal) and even the President (Luca di Montezemolo), but nobody has asked anything about my contract or about my possibility to race in the future, like for Monza or whatever - so far nothing has happened. I would be happy to have the opportunity."

Source: GP Update