Fisichella ready for Chinese challenge

Sauber’s Giancarlo Fisichella is confident he and team-mate Felipe Massa can put in a good performance at this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.

The Italian driver is not wary of the new Shanghai International Circuit, which will play host to China’s first-ever Formula One race, but is looking forward to the challenge of a new track.

Fisichella, who has only failed to finish one race this season – Monaco – has been involved at the top level of motorsport for eight years and believes his wealth of experience will help him around the circuit this weekend.

“I’ve been lucky to go to quite a few new circuits in my career, such as Malaysia, Indianapolis and Bahrain, so now I am really looking forward to Shanghai, especially as China is a new country for me to visit, too,” Fisichella said.

“I never have any trouble learning a new track, but it’s important to walk round it the day before practice and maybe to do some laps on a bike, not just to see which way it goes but where the kerbs are and what shape they are, what surface changes there are in the braking areas, how big the run-off areas are, things like that.

“Shanghai looks like a good circuit, interesting and very challenging. We can do well there with the Sauber.”

Despite not being on the Formula One scene for as long as Fisichella, his 23-year-old team-mate Massa believes he will soon become familiar with the layout of the new track.

The Brazilian-born driver also hopes the team will pick up some valuable points in Shanghai.

“I haven’t seen the track first-hand yet, but I am familiar with its layout from our maps and computer simulation and it doesn’t take me long to learn new venues,” Massa said.

“The infrastructure seems fantastic, very modern like Sepang and Sakhir, and the track seems a little bit of a mixture of both of them.

“I think it will be quicker than Bahrain, which will be good. That should suit the C23 well, so I believe we can challenge for more points this weekend.”