Giancarlo Fisichella reveals the F1 teammate he 'couldn't stand'

Fisichella drove over 200 races in Formula 1 for a host of teams, including Ferrari, Benetton and Renault. He was notably teammate to Fernando Alonso in both of his championship winning seasons at Renault, in 2005 and 2006.

Now 50-years-old, the Italian is the last of his nation to stand on the top step of the podium. He is also still racing, competing in the 2023 Italian GT Championship for Scuderia Baldini 27.

Reflecting on his F1 career with Corriere, Fisichella was asked if there was anyone in the sport he couldn’t stand. He responded with his 1997 Jordan teammate, Ralf Schumacher.

“There was not a good relationship with Ralf Schumacher, in 1997 at Jordan”, he revealed. “He felt superior despite the fact that I beat him.”

He went on to let out a joke Ralf Schumacher made following the Argentinian Grand Prix that year, which the Italian did not take kindly to: “In Argentina I was second and he was third. He touched me and after the GP he made a damn joke: ‘Oh well, I'll offer him a pizza’. From then on it was all uphill with him.”

In contrast, Fisichella revealed he had a much better relationship with Michael Schumacher, Ralf’s brother. While the two were never teammates at any point, Fisichella said that he and Michael shared many good times.

“(Better) as a person, as well as a driver, of a very different calibre”, said Fisichella, when comparing Michael to Ralf. “I had an excellent relationship with (Michael) Schumi: we have a passion for football and he always played at least 2-3 matches. 

“We shared track, football, dinners, karaoke: it's a pity that it ended up as we know, fate is sometimes cruel and I am also thinking of what happened to Alessandro Zanardi.”