Giancarlo Fisichella has had a mixed month. After the disappointment of having to miss the French Grand Prix following a heavy accident during practice, he then enjoyed his most promising weekend of the year in Germany, although unfortunately he failed to materialise it. But the start of the summer break, and the news that he and his wife are expecting their second baby helped him smile again. This is how the past month looked through Fisico's visor...

So many things have happened since I wrote my last column for Atlas F1; first there was my accident during free practice at Magny-Cours, then Michael won his fifth World Championship, and then - saving the best news for last - Luna and I are expecting another baby at the end of January! Naturally we are both thrilled and Carlotta is very excited at the thought of having a baby sister or brother, but like us she will have to wait until January to find out which one...

Immediately after the accident, apart from a headache and a slightly stiff neck, I felt fine. Although Professor Sid Watkins sent me off for a routine brain-scan at the hospital in Nevers I expected it to be just that - a routine check, which it was. I can honestly say that a couple of days afterwards I felt just fine, but I returned home to Monaco for a complete rest.

It seemed quite strange watching the race on TV at home, but I thought it (the race) looked quite good. Of course I would have preferred to have been there racing myself. I was quite surprised by the number of drivers who made a mistake by crossing the white-line at the pitlane exit, although if you are anxious of another car taking track position over you it is quite easy to let your rear tyres get too close to the white line there.

I thought Michael was very lucky because Raikkonen made a mistake after he hit the oil. Apart from that, I thought Raikkonen did a very good job. But I was quite surprised the McLaren was quicker than the Williams. If I was asked to name the best drives of the day I would say first of all Michael, then Raikkonen and Coulthard and also Mark Webber did a good job for Minardi. But of course it was a fantastic moment for Michael and Ferrari - truly historic!

I still can't remember anything about the accident but even if I had, I would not have expected it to hinder my performance, as it never has done in the past. So for the next couple of days I had a complete rest at home with my family before I started training again with Marco (Rustichelli), my trainer. Swimming and cycling were sufficient, and I felt good - I felt confident and I was looking forward to racing in Germany.

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When Gianpaolo, my manager, and I arrived at Hockenheim, my first impressions of the circuit were not that good. Like all the other drivers, we made the most of being able to travel around the circuit either by car or on a bike. After I drove around in the hire-car I thought it was shit - it was so different from the original track, which I really enjoyed racing on and also where I had such good memories - leading the race for Jordan in '97 until a puncture forced me to pit and losing the lead to Gerhard (Berger).

But I changed my mind completely when I drove around the circuit in the Jordan - it was fantastic! I was immediately quick, no problem! Concentrating on the circuit design for a moment, it is completely different, totally the opposite from what it was last year. Then it was a very high-speed circuit, very low downforce. This year it is very twisty, there are a few low speed and high speed corners, especially the last part which is the most important part of the circuit.

It is really important to get a good balance because you need to drive very well through that sector. My car felt very good through there, and even though we were running very low downforce - much lower compared to other teams - I could still get good speed everywhere. It also helped me to get a good rhythm through the final sector so that it was my fastest sector.

Even though it is a technical circuit there are some good overtaking opportunities - especially the approach into the hairpin. The most difficult corner is the first turn and then the first one before we enter the motordrome (stadium). Also, the last two corners - which are high speed corners - are quite a challenge as the handling of the car is quite difficult. When I braked, first of all it understeered and then it switched to oversteer so it was quite tricky.

During Friday's first free practice session I found that on new tyres the car was oversteering but then on scrubbed tyres the car understeered. I went wide and ran off the circuit on the approach to the motordrome, which meant that the team had to fit a new floor before the start of the second session. That session went reasonably well until towards the end my engine expired, but fortunately I only missed out on a couple of laps.

After Friday, I felt that we had a very good chance of a top ten place but then on Saturday, as the car felt so well balanced and the new spec engine felt good, I felt quite optimistic about qualifying. So I was really very pleased with a top six position and I nearly had fifth place. Halfway through the session, even with used tyres I realised we had a good package and that I could be competitive.

Then in qualifying, especially on my second run which was the best one, I saw on my display 1:15.6 and I thought to myself, that was a good lap - this could be really good! I felt very confident and very, very happy with that lap and I was looking forward to the race on Sunday.

When it came to race time and we lined-up on the grid, I had several TV crews waiting to interview me, which was great. I thrive on giving interviews in that situation, when I'm feeling good and confident about my chances.

However, at the start of the race I wasn't able to get a good enough start as I was running a high fuel load and I had a problem with the clutch - which allowed David Coulthard and Jarno Trulli to get past. Then, two laps later Felipe Massa passed me.

To make matters worse, after my first pitstop the team had difficulty with my front right wheel, which caused problems with the clutch and the engine stalled. That stop cost me 20 seconds and I joined the race in 13th position. My second pitstop on lap 45 was hassle free but 15 laps later my engine expired, the end of my race.

But hey - we've made great progress; we were running very competitively, so I am very confident about our chances in Hungary. The team and Honda did a really great job and the tyres worked very well for us so I think we all deserve a little break - I know that it is the first summer holiday that my race engineer has had for fifteen years!

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I was also very pleased to have my fiancee with me. It was her choice to be here - Luna decided she wanted to come and be with me after my accident - and she had a very calming effect on me all weekend. So now I'm thinking that maybe she should come to more (races) in the future!

I am going off for a week's holiday on my new boat - a 25.5 metre Canados 80 S named "Fizzy" in Sardinia with Luna and Carlotta. "Fizzy" is a great twin-engined motor yacht with a total capacity of 2,600hp. It is big enough to sleep ten plus two crew, but for the first few days we will be on our own, until Marco (Rustichelli) joins us. Marco will be making sure that I start training again - swimming, some fun on the jet ski - an XP SeeDoo competition model capable of 60 knots so it's great for strengthening the arms and upper body, cycling, more swimming and finally some fishing, which I love. I am quite good at catching some delicious fish for our supper too!

I love being on the boat - it is so completely relaxing and the best way to recharge the batteries before returning for the last five races of the season. I am feeling very refreshed after the break and I also know that during the last few weeks the team at the factory have been working hard on some small developments, specifically designed to optimise the individual characteristics of the Hungaroring, plus further develop our launch-control System. So hopefully I will be able to get a better start in Hungary and can't wait to score some more points there!

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.