Giancarlo Fisichella was runner up in karts before joining his first car racing team, Formula Alfa Boxer, in 1991. He then competed for three seasons 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 won the Monaco Formula 3 race, as well as one of the two heats of the international invitation race 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 open wheelers had diminished, and he made his Formula One debut in 1996 with Minardi until he was replaced with Giovanni Lavaggi.

Fisichella thrived when he moved to Jordan in 1997, taking a second place in the Belgian Grand Prix, even leading the German Grand Prix before retiring with mechanical problems. Finishing the 1997 season, eighth place overall, he moved to the Benetton team for 1998. Here he achieved the first pole position of his career, as well as two second places, finishing the season ninth overall, with 16 points.

The Italian appeared to be one of Formula Ones rising new stars at the time, but the 1999 season didn't turn out the way he had hoped. Finishing the season in ninth with only 13 points, he was hoping for a turn around in 2000, something that failed to materialise. 2001 saw him partnered with Jenson Button after his long-term partner, Alex Wurz was dropped from the team but it was another tough season that saw him finish 11th in the standings.

After a dismal year the Fisichella switched places with Jarno Trulli at Jordan where he started 2002 alongside Takuma Sato. It wasn't the season he was hoping for and when the Japanese GP 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 fortunate victory at Interlagos. 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 is nothing to be sniffed at. The downfall of Fisichella's season was the teams 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 a tough 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 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 and promoted test driver Heikki Kovalainen to the race seat alongside Fisichella.

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 team-mate Kovalainen was a regular top eight runner.

It was of no surprise when Renault dropped Fisichella from its 2008 driver line-up but the Italian tested well with the Force India team in the off-season and is keen to show that he can help the small team make progress from the back of the pack.