One could sense the pride which filled Giancarlo Fisichella, as he walked into the FIA Press Conference yesterday, wearing Scuderia Ferrari team kit for the first time. He was even relaxed enough to answer with humour, when asked what he thought about his new car for this weekend. “At this stage, I cannot tell you much about it, except that it is the colour red! But I can say that being here, for my home Grand Prix, with a new team, Ferrari, is a dream — just great and I have received so many texts and phone calls from friends congratulating me. There is a fantastic atmosphere in the team and everyone has been very nice to me. I feel as though I’m living a dream, but it’s not a dream, it’s true!”

Moving on to more technical matters, he evidently feels he will be at the wheel of a competitive package. “Having KERS should be good for us here, as well as the Monza-specification aero package. But before I can make the most of it, I need to get comfortable and confident in the car. I expect to do that in tomorrow’s first free practice session, before being more competitive in the second one.” Although he will not experience the true sensation of driving a car on track until today, he has at least been in the cockpit of the F60. “I have spent most of my time since the last race in Maranello, having meetings with the engineers, discussing our work programme and I have also done two to three hours a day in the static simulator, which has been useful, especially learning where everything is on the steering wheel. For me, it will be a new experience using the adjustable front flap, as I didn’t have that on my last car and of course, KERS will also be new. It might be as simple as pressing a button when you exit a corner, but I think it will take me a short while to get fully used to it.”

As for his targets for the weekend, the Roman erred on the side of caution. “Of course, it would be a dream to win straight away on Sunday, but it’s not so easy stepping from one car to another. So I will be taking it step by step. My aim is to help Ferrari ensure third place in the Constructors,’ to be as close as possible to Kimi, to score points and maybe get on the podium.