The European and French Grands Prix were another two fruitless races for Giancarlo Fisichella, who continued to battle with a difficult car that left him disappointed and looking forward to better days. As a consolation at least he could enjoy the experience of driving a world-beating WRC Ford Focus. Read all about that and more, through Fisichella's visor...

For me there is nothing in the world to compare with driving a Formula One car on the limit; when the chassis, the engine, the tyres, everything is working to its optimum, perfectly tuned to my reactions, to create the ultimate lap. Balancing my Jordan Ford on the limit of adhesion becomes easy and, at that point I feel the car is a mere extension of myself as I settle into a smooth rhythm. It is what we drivers love - to be in control and exploiting the power and full potential of the world's most technologically sophisticated racing machines, a Grand Prix car.

In stark contrast however, driving a Ford Focus RS WRC (World Rally Championship) just before the European Grand Prix required a very different approach to my usual driving style when I'm racing my Jordan Ford. It was certainly a fantastic opportunity to sample another world-beating Ford-powered car and have Markko Martin, who had only recently won the Acropolis Rally sitting alongside me, acting as my navigator. I guess it was only to be expected that I should feel slightly at odds sitting in the passenger seat as Markko took the wheel first and put the Ford Focus through its paces through the special stage. It was impressive and hugely enjoyable and by then I couldn't wait to sample the power and handling of the Focus. For sure Markko is a fantastic driver but I still felt much happier once I was behind the wheel and back in control.

Everyone asked me what was the biggest difference between driving the Ford Focus RS WRC compared to my Jordan Ford, to which I replied: 'having a navigator sitting next to me.' Seriously, my previous rallying experience was a few years ago when I finished second after leading a rally in Monza, but having this opportunity to drive a WRC-prepared Ford Focus, even for a short time, was fantastic! I felt you could do almost anything with it. I could really throw it around, taking off on some sections - yes, we were air-born at times. A lot of fun. I really appreciated the experience and it was also great for Markko and me to entertain some of Ford of Europe's key personnel with our driving antics, as their headquarters is situated about 100km from the rally stage, in Cologne. Would I like to compete in rallying in the future? Well it could be something I would seriously consider in about ten years' time, but of course, only after I have achieved my goal to win the World Championship and, only after I have retired from Grand Prix racing.

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Winning Championship points is what we need to achieve again right now, after we missed out in the last two Grands Prix at the Nurburgring and Magny-Cours. For once in my life, especially this year with the new qualifying rules, the weather was on my side at the Nurburgring and I had a dry track for my timed slot in Friday's qualifying session. Even though it was a good clean lap and the balance of my EJ13 felt quite good, I was still two seconds off the pace, which was frustrating. Basically it was a combination of tyres and our entire package. Again in qualifying I felt quite satisfied with my lap, the car felt good and I was able to push hard throughout the lap but ultimately we are still giving away grip and top end speed to the top teams, as a result 13th was the best I could achieve. Certainly nothing special, but my team did a great job to improve the balance from the morning session in time for qualifying so the result was better than we had initially expected it to be. Sure it was going to be difficult to score points from this grid position and certainly the Michelin runners were on top, but with the varied race strategies, we had opted on a three-stop strategy, so we could strike lucky.

I lost two or three places at the start of the European Grand Prix as I had a problem with the launch control system and very nearly stalled. Then I had understeer during the first couple of laps. Suddenly that changed to big oversteer, which remained for the entire race, and which made it difficult to make up any time. Also the three-stop strategy did not pay off as we had hoped and my race turned into a four-stopper because of a puncture to my right rear with just two laps remaining. So although my EJ13 ran reliably and the Ford Cosworth didn't miss a beat, after all our hard efforts throughout the weekend we came away without scoring any points. That was tough. However, the following week was going to prove very tough especially for the team, who had to prepare our cars in time for Magny-Cours in four days time. Meanwhile I took the opportunity to spend a few days at home in Rome with my family before preparing myself for the French Grand Prix.

Friday's qualifying session turned out to be a bit of a lottery, as the track dried out, which of course meant that the times became quicker and quicker. I was the first to take to the track on intermediate tyres and although I did my best, perhaps the track was a little too wet in places but at the time no-one was certain what the weather would do. Certainly my car got out of shape in Turn 1 which cost me some time. But I was not unduly concerned as Saturday was the all-important qualifying session and so much would depend on the weather conditions when it was my turn. Our biggest problem was that we were really struggling with a lack of grip, not only the tyres but we were struggling without the aero improvements the team are currently working on, which I hoped would be in time for the British Grand Prix.

The team were doing their best to try to find a solution to our lack of grip but unfortunately the changes in set-up highlighted the problem which ultimately made the car very difficult to handle. The result meant that we were fighting at the back of the grid with the two Minardis! As the circuit picked-up more grip we experienced more oversteer and although I made a mistake during my qualifying lap it would not have made any difference to my end result of 17th, nearly three seconds off pole! I was very disappointed - we urgently needed a big step forward. But hey, at least we were not on the last row of the grid! Only the weather and a good race strategy could help us for the race, we would have to see what was in store.

Unfortunately for me the disappointing weekend ended on lap 46 when my engine expired. I had been battling with oversteer and little grip throughout the entire race and although the team gave me some great pitstops it did not make up for the time I was losing through the handling and lack of grip. The only thing one can do in those circumstances is jettison the disappointment and focus on the next race, my team's home Grand Prix at Silverstone; now that would give us all a boost!

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Before you ask, I am not going to the British Grand Prix Ball, instead I am hoping to have a Ball of my own on the track - perhaps that is too much too expect, a case of wishful thinking. Yet with the unpredictable English climate, who knows what might happen. Until our aero package arrives we are looking at 12th and 14th in qualifying, but as I said the weather could help to even the stakes. For sure I and the Jordan Ford team will be giving our all to put on a good show for all our thousands of loyal supporters.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going! That saying is certainly true of me and my team. Disappointments and set-backs are part of motor racing, but like the pace of Formula One, situations can change fast and, you have to be primed ready to maximise the opportunity when it comes round again. The key to our future success is how we, as a team, overcome these difficulties and become even more determined to produce a competitive package again. With the Jordan factory just across the road from the Silverstone circuit, the British Grand Prix is very much our home Grand Prix and we always have fantastic support from all the Jordan fans as well as the entire workforce and their families. I think it's great that everyone at the factory has an opportunity to share this weekend with their families and watch us giving the EJ13s our best efforts.

As my family plays an important role in my life I really enjoy seeing and meeting so many of Jordan's workforce with their families enjoying the Grand Prix weekend with us. The atmosphere is always fantastic for us at Silverstone and with the thousands of Jordan fans enjoying the hospitality and fun of the Jordan Experience it gives the race team an added boost to have so many supporters. Hopefully we can deliver some excitement and results to give them cause for celebration! The recent tests have gone well and if as we expect the Bridgestones will be to our advantage here then all we need is rain. If anyone can do a rain dance then now would be a great time to do it!

Ciao a tutti!

Giancarlo Fisichella's column is written exclusively for Atlas F1 by Fisichella himself, with the assistance of friend and freelance journalist Georgie Shaw.
Fisichella's official website can be found at http://www.giancarlofisichella.it.