Giancarlo Fisichella is preparing for his 200th Formula 1 race at next weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix. The 35 year-old Italian is currently in his 13th season in F1 and will be only the ninth driver to reach the 200-race mark. By the end of the 2008 season, Fisichella will have made the fifth most-number of F1 starts.

With it looking likely that Fernando Alonso will be heading back to Renault for 2008, Giancarlo Fisichella is on the look-out for a race seat in another team. Having tested for Force India yesterday in Jerez, Fisichella has said he is looking to keep his options open and would be interested in driving for Force India.

It’s the second year in a row that Giancarlo Fisichella has caused chaos at the Turkish Grand Prix. Last year he had a spin; this year, he hit the back of Jarno Trulli’s Toyota, spinning him around at the first corner of the race.

Giancarlo Fisichella is hoping that his Renault team will be suitably happy with his 2007 performance and will offer him a contract for the 2008 season. Fisichella’s option is up for renewal with Renault in September.

Despite a disappointing 2007 season, Giancarlo Fisichella is confident of remaining at Renault for the 2008 season. The 34-year old Italian has been with the team since 2005, however his contract runs out at the end of this year.

Renault driver Giancarlo Fisichella is to open his own Motorsports Academy. Named the ‘Fisichella Motor Sport Academy’ (or FMS Academy for short),  it will be located at the Circuit of Vallelunga and will teach pupils a range of racing disciplines.

Giancarlo Fisichella and Renault have presented a united front in Barcelona after the publication of some quotes by Fisichella which he states are untrue.

The Italian newspaper the Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Fisichella had described his car as a ‘disaster’, something which he now completely denies.

If Fisichella fails to shine again this year, it could be his final season in Renault colours according to Spyker’s technical chief, Mike Gascoyne.  Gascoyne, who worked alongside Fisichella in 2001, has stated he thinks Fisichella is very talented however needs to step up to the mark now that Fernando Alonso has left.

Giancarlo Fisichella has stated that if either himself or Kovalianen opens out an early advantage in the 2007 season, he expects Renault to make them lead driver for the team.

For the past two seasons, Fisichella has had to play second fiddle to world champion Fernando Alonso - although Alonso was usually clearly quicker than Fisichella.

Renault F1’s 2007 contender made its second appearance, this time at Jerez, for its official shakedown prior to the official launch in Amsterdam later this month. The R27 also attended Silverstone last Wednesday for aerodynamic tests, completing just 20km of testing.