Giancarlo Fisichella's year continues to look promising. Pre-season testing has seen his Jordan-Ford EJ13 show pace, with the new Ford engine proving much more reliable than last year's Honda. In his column, exclusive for Atlas F1, he writes about the latest events as well as his expectations for the new season, including this weekend's Australian Grand Prix, with the new rules. This is how it looks through Fisico's visor...

Hi to all my friends at Atlas F1, and welcome to the start of the new Grand Prix season here in Melbourne!

It feels really fantastic to be just hours away from driving my Jordan-Ford for the first time around Albert Park, a circuit I really enjoy. Australia is a great place to start the World Championship; the people are so enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the racing and, of course, after so many months without seeing and hearing the unmistakable sounds of Grand Prix cars in competition like me, everyone is hungry for Formula One action. It all adds up to a great atmosphere. Add to this the new qualifying regulations, where we not only have to post our time in one flying lap on Saturday, we must also start the race with the remaining fuel load following the qualifying session. That adds another dimension to the race strategy and another big question mark to where we are likely to line-up on the grid, which all adds to a thrilling start to the season.

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My start to this year has already been fantastic; first of all I was given my first chance in my new Jordan-Ford on my birthday, then a few weeks later, Luna and I celebrated the birth of our second child, a baby boy! So you can understand when I say it has already been an incredible start to 2003 for me.

Of course I think Christopher (Luna particularly liked this English name) looks very much like his Pappa. I guess that's what all proud fathers say after they have had a baby boy, and thankfully he is a healthy baby. I was so very happy to be able to spend some time with Luna, our daughter Carlotta and our new baby in between my testing schedule. So you can understand why the start of 2003 has been so special for me, making me feel so elated that I cannot wait to start the new Grand Prix season and bring that feeling to the team with some good solid results.

For sure it is just the greatest feeling to know that we are all just hours away from seeing Grand Prix cars in action again and the start of what I believe will be a thrilling season. Hopefully we at Jordan-Ford will be able to give you all something to cheer about this season. I am quietly confident that we have a good competitive package (engine and chassis) this year.

The chassis feels good and it is great to feel the extra power from the Ford Cosworth, and I would like to thank Gary Anderson, Henri Durand and everyone in the Jordan team and at Ford Cosworth for all their hard efforts over the winter months to give me this exciting car to drive. As always, we won't know how competitive the package is until we see what our rivals have produced over the winter months, but I am very motivated and confident that we can do a good job this year. I believe that together with Ralph (Firman), my new teammate, we will be able to continue improving and developing the EJ13 so that once again the Jordan team can be a major threat to our competitors! We are all hungry for success and nothing is going to deter us from aiming for some great results for Jordan-Ford and our title sponsor Benson and Hedges this season.

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There was much speculation over the winter months about who would partner me at Jordan-Ford this season. Eddie Irvine was tipped as a hot favourite for some time but it was not to be, so I would like to wish him well in his new life ahead. As I said months ago, I would have enjoyed having him as a teammate, as he was a good tough racer and enjoyed great success during his career, especially when at Ferrari he finished runner-up in the World Championship to Mika Hakkinen. For sure Eddie was a great character and brought much excitement both on and off the track to Formula One, and without doubt he will be missed by many of us.

Just as one door closes, another one opens, and this year is a great opportunity for the four new F1 rookies; my teammate Ralph (Firman), Antonio Pizzonia (Jaguar), Cristiano da Matta (Toyota), and Justin Wilson (Minardi), who will line-up for their first taste of competition in the Australian Grand Prix this Sunday. Last but not least, I say welcome back to Jos (Verstappen) who will partner Justin at Minardi. In addition to all the pressures of starting your first Grand Prix, the new qualifying regulations will be an extra challenge for all of us. As long as there aren't any mechanical glitches or the weather goes against us, I have no problem with one flying lap, but we will have to wait and see what transpires here at Melbourne, and during the season. Whatever the outcome, it is an interesting feature that I hope will entertain you all, not just in qualifying but also by giving some unusual grid line-ups and therefore some exciting racing again.

I am looking forward to testing on Friday and firmly believe that we should be able to build on our evaluations during the early season testing to maximise the EJ13's potential and that of our Bridgestone tyres. Initially the track is quite green, therefore giving little grip until a number of cars have gone out to lay rubber down. If the weather forecasters are correct we could have a wet race, and as you know those conditions I enjoy. I like racing here at Melbourne, so I was particularly disappointed last year when I was sidelined at the beginning of the race when Ralf's Williams launched off the back of Rubens' Ferrari, with several cars piling into each other to avoid the flying debris. Thankfully no-one was injured, which says much for the great strides in safety measures implemented by the FIA Safety Commission. I really hope that we can have a good clean start this year and that I can bring home some valuable championship points for Jordan-Ford.

My teammate has already had a high speed roll over Albert Park when he sampled the awesome G-forces and aerobatic prowess of one of the Australian Air Force's 'Roulettes'. I can promise you it is amazing because I sampled flying upside-down over Albert Park with the Roulettes four years ago. Fortunately Ralph felt no side effects after his 'flying' lap of the Albert Park in the aerobatic 'Roulette' and joined me at the Melbourne Motor Show afterwards, where we were presented on Ford's stand, together with a line-up of Ford drivers competing in Australia's premier V8 championship. I would like to thank everyone at Ford Australia for their hospitality and welcome. Hopefully we can give them cause for celebration during this weekend.

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It seems hard to believe that it was at Melbourne in 1996 that I made my Grand Prix debut with Minardi. As we line up for the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday March 9th, it will be my third season racing for Eddie Jordan's Formula One team, as he gave me my first full season in Formula One back in 1997, alongside Ralf Schumacher. I feel very good at Jordan, and with the package they and Ford Cosworth have given me, I can't wait to see what we can achieve together this season.

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.