Giancarlo Fisichella is unlikely to remain at Renault beyond 2007 if he fails to shine for the team this year.
That is the claim of Spyker’s technical chief Mike Gascoyne, who worked alongside the Roman in 2001 before switching to the Toyota team.
Briton Gascoyne admits that 34-year-old Fisichella is “very talented” but must step up his pace after the departure of his championship winning teammate Fernando Alonso.
“He definitely has to win half a dozen races this year,” Gascoyne is quoted as saying by Reuters.
“If not he’ll be falling back to the teams down the grid; he won’t be getting another top line drive.”
Fisichella, however, told the Melbourne newspaper Herald Sun this week that he is unlikely to reside a winning car at least in the early races of 2007, probably because Renault had not adapted as well as teams like McLaren and BMW in the switch from Michelin tyres.
“McLaren and Ferrari are stronger than us,” he admitted. “It’s at least half a second a lap. It’s a lot.”
