I want to race in F1 - Fisico

Former ING Renault F1 Team driver, Giancarlo Fisichella, eyes the empty race seat at Force India. The 34-year-old Italian was one of the drivers testing for the newly renamed team at Jerez last week and he hopes that he can land the seat next to Adrian Sutil.

Giancarlo Fisichella said to 'Autosprint': "My objective is to race with Force India. I wouldn't have gone through a shoot-out otherwise, because it's always something very tense. All the drivers at Jerez were there for that, let's not kid ourselves.

"Even Ralf Schumacher arrived two days earlier, went often around the track to see the trajectories and he was in contact with the pits. He never did that at Toyota. No one came to Jerez to be a tourist of for a stroll in F1."

Fisichella hopes that he can stay in F1 after he was put aside by Renault: "I think I still deserve a place in F1. I would have expected a little more consideration from Renault, because in three years I contributed towards winning two world championships.

"However I don't consider the opportunity with Force India a stopgap, but a new phase in my career."

If the Italian would not find a racing seat, he would consider becoming a test driver in a front-running team: "I would consider offers to be a test driver. At that point it depends on who comes up with the offer. There are front-running teams with that position still open."

"I want to race in F1 and I feel I can still do well. I know the first races would be difficult, with getting back to qualifying in the last rows, but I can see great potential in this team, they don't lack financial resources.

"I don't think the driver will be chosen based on a possible budget he might bring. They told me they want an experienced driver to team up with Sutil. Well, I'm here for that. Before starting I signed a contract-option as per usual in this occasions. I will have an answer before Christmas."