Fisichella to race Ferrari on Australian GP F1 support bill 

Giancarlo Fisichella will race a Ferrari in the Australian GT Championship as part of the support bill for the season-opening Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne.

The Italian has secured a one-off drive with Maranello Motorsport for the first Australian GT Championship race of 2018 to return to the scene of one of his three F1 grand prix wins.

Fisichella, who claimed victory at Albert Park in 2005 while driving for Renault, will share driving duties across four 25-minute races with Maranello regular Peter Edwards in a Kaspersky-backed Ferrari 458 GTE that won last year’s 12 Hours of Bathurst. 

“I have participated in many races in different countries around the world, but racing in Australia is always something special for me,” Fisichella said. "I have great memories of Albert Park, above all the pole position and the victory in F1 in 2005. 

“I am also really proud to be the brand ambassador of Kaspersky Lab in Australia, which is giving me the great opportunity to race the Ferrari 488 GT3 of Maranello Motorsport.”

Fisichella started 229 races across his 14-year F1 career, taking his maiden win with Jordan at the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix, before sealing two further victories in Australia in 2005 and Malaysia in 2006 during his time at Renault. 

He later raced for Force India and ended his F1 career with a brief spell at Ferrari in 2009, before turning his attention to sportscar racing. The two-time GTE Pro class Le Mans winner will contest the full 2018/19 World Endurance Championship superseason with the GTE Am Ferrari squad.