Giancarlo Fisichella, who was teammates with Fernando Alonso felt the wrath of his Renault race engineer Alan Permane.
Fisichella was Alonso’s teammate when the latter won two back to back World Titles in 2005 and 2006. While the latter was competing for race wins every weekend and challenging for the Title, Fisichella often struggled for pace when compared to him.
It’s not fair to judge your driving abilities compared to Alonso, as he’s one of the all time greats. However, in a race where Alonso is winning, if you are in 10th position and two seconds slower, then there’s something wrong.
Race engineers back in the day were menaces 💀 pic.twitter.com/1TBpIIpoeZ
— Rik (@Riktor52) July 25, 2022
This was the situation for Fisichella at the Australian GP. The difference between them was so big that his race engineer Alan Permane took matters into his own hands.
If this happened today, F1TWT would call for this race engineer to be cancelled for causing emotional distress to Fisichella’s fans.
— Helmut Marko’s Spirit (@HelmutMaxko) July 25, 2022
“Giancarlo, you are two seconds a lap slower than Fernando!” Permane lashed out at him mid race. “This cannot be possible. You have the same fuel load as him, you cannot be two seconds slower, come on!”
Fernando Alonso or any other driver won’t tolerate race engineers shouting today
F1 Twitter began to wonder what the situation would be like if race engineers bashed someone publicly like this today. We do see some of them encourage drivers, or ask them to step up on the pedal even today.
However, their comments are not as brutally honest and are conveyed calmly. Fans feel that no driver would tolerate their team members talking to them this way today.
Could you imagine ricciardo last year with this dude, or gasly in 19 with this dude?
— ZayRazor (@RazorBBV) July 25, 2022
Fisichella stinking it up in P10 whilst Fernando is winning the race… JB and EO are the only good teammates we’ve ever had
— Rik (@Riktor52) July 25, 2022
Some on the other hand feel that this was a necessary aspect of F1, which got lost over the years. Sometimes drivers do need the push, and being critical of their performance may just provide that.
Alan Permane has been in Formula 1 for over 30 years now. He is still with the Enstone based outfit, now known as Alpine and works there as a sporting director.
Fisichella had a pretty decent F1 career of his own. The Italian driver raced for the likes of Renault, Jordan, Benetton and Ferrari in his 13 year long career. He also has three race wins and 19 podium finishes to his name.
