The past four weeks left Giancarlo Fisichella with mixed feelings again. He enjoyed a very strong weekend in Hungary, giving his Jordan team one point after finishing sixth, but then he endured a torrid Belgian Grand Prix at one of his favourites circuit: Spa. He is now looking forward to smile again in his home race. This is how the past month looked through Fisico's visor...

Bullshit! That's all I can say about the latest gossip that was seen on a website about Nick Heidfeld changing places with me for next year! I guess we are still in the silly season but it did make us laugh at the time. As it happens I am looking forward to working with Jordan and Ford power next year - such a distinguished industry giant with a great racing heritage. Certainly I believe it will provide me with the opportunity to achieve my goals - to win races and the World Championship! But for now, I am focussing on winning more points for Jordan Honda, hopefully from the last three races of the season, starting with Monza in a few days time.

During last week's test I missed most of the morning session after my engine failed (on my second lap), but the afternoon session was very productive. We concentrated on aerodynamic and suspension set-up to maximise full use of this power circuit without compromising the stability while riding over the kerbs. Hopefully our preparations, together with Honda's new step engine, will produce enough power for me to challenge near the top. Racing at this historic circuit is always a thrill, not least because of the 360kph top speed that we aim for, but also because of the unique atmosphere created by the thousands of tifosi who crowd into this temple of speed - enough to turn the coldest blood hot.

Even the most seasoned race engineers tell me they never fail to sense a special aura surrounding the Autodromo. Another feature I've noticed at Monza and Spa is the number of ingenious home-made viewing areas the fans use. Some stand on top of mountains of beer cans or piles of logs, while others climb fences, ladders or even trees. Last week I spotted what you could almost describe as a tree house with about six people crammed into it. I had to admire their effort, but I just wonder how long it will remain there.

Meanwhile I have made the most of my free time in between Grands Prix and test sessions to spend time on my boat in Poltu Quatu, a really beautiful place near Olbia in Sardinia. I flew back after the test last week to spend a long weekend with my family. My manager Gianpaolo arrived on his boat with my trainer Marco (Rustichelli) a few hours before I returned from the circuit. We had a great evening on deck enjoying a typical Italian pasta dish that Marco had cooked. Early the following morning Gianpaolo decided to join us on my training session. The swimming and cycling was OK but I think he found the jogging around the hilly lanes pretty tiring. As for me, I felt really great - the sea air seems to add a new dimension to a feeling of total well-being.

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I felt just the same when I arrived in Hungary after spending a couple of weeks on the boat during the mid season break. Although I had seen all the terrible floods across parts of Europe on the TV news bulletins, it was alarming to see for myself just how close the beautiful city of Budapest was to a major disaster. Fortunately this was avoided, but only just and, needless to say, it was quite a shock to leave the tranquil waters around Sardinia to come face-to-face with the raging torrent of the Danube.

Having spent that final week training hard with Marco I felt in great physical and mental shape for the final Grands Prix of the season. The Hungaroring's tight and twisty layout is more akin to a 'toboga' (kart track) than a Grand Prix circuit, so consequently it is a tough race for us drivers. It's also quite tricky to get a good balance between high downforce and good mechanical grip without compromising too much speed and with few overtaking opportunities it is very important to get a good qualifying position. Rookie Anthony Davidson was first out on track - collecting a pitlane speeding fine in the process, with Takuma (Sato) next out, eager to learn the track in a Formula One car.

Altogether Friday's practice session went pretty well considering the circuit is notoriously dirty and slippery and therefore difficult to find a good balance. We concentrated on tyre evaluation and although I experienced a little graining on the front tyres during my best run, overall I was reasonably happy with the balance on new and used tyres. Honda's new step engine was a good improvement.

It is a higher revving unit, producing more power, less throttle lag and more bottom end torque - just what is needed on this tight, twisty low speed circuit. After setting fifth quickest time I felt confident of starting from the third or fourth rows as long as the weather remained the same, overcast and not too hot. However the set-up changes we made to try and improve the front tyres from graining did not work and so we changed the set-up back for qualifying. I was on target for another fifth fastest but the notorious traffic problem at this circuit ruined my best laps and I ended the session in seventh.

Fortunately I had a good qualifying session and felt confident throughout that I could achieve a good grid position, so I was very pleased with fifth place - the highest for us this season. It was a great reward for the team and good to be the highest placed Bridgestone runner after the two Ferraris. It was also particularly good for us to have such a strong performance just after Eddie Jordan had announced a three-year engine deal with Ford starting next season. My congratulations to Rubens (Barrichello) for getting pole and Anthony Davidson for qualifying the Minardi for his first Grand Prix.

During warm-up the car felt good and most of the session was spent on scrubbing in tyres for the race. I was feeling very strong mentally and confident for the race after setting fourth fastest time. The team had done a great job with improving the launch-control system and so when the five sets of reds went out I was able to maximise my position and even gain one to fourth. After the first couple of laps as the field settled down into a rhythm I was able to hold fourth place comfortably until my first pit stop on lap 31. When I rejoined the race I was lying in tenth place but as others started to pit I was back in fourth place by lap 36. Again I felt comfortable that we had a good chance of retaining that position until the chequered flag.

I made my second pit stop on lap 51. Both McLarens pitted several laps after me, David Coulthard on lap 58 and Kimi Raikkonen on lap 61. That strategy combined with the hotter conditions which suited their Michelins better than our Bridgestones gave them track position over me, relegating me to sixth where I remained until the end of the race. But hey, it was great to score another Championship point and it was fantastic to have run in such a strong position all weekend. The team did a great job, the engine worked well, the tyres worked well, it was a great weekend. Takuma also did well to finish in tenth after a difficult qualifying session meant he had to qualify in the T-car which although set-up for him he could not improve on his previous time of 14th. Once again, my congratulations to Rubens on his win and to Ferrari for winning the Constructors' Championship.

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After our weekend's work I felt optimistic that the next Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, one of my favourite circuits would bring us more Championship points perhaps even a podium finish like I had the previous year with Benetton…. Or better still a repeat of my second place with Jordan in 1997 after I had such a fantastic race and duel against Jean Alesi.

The weather at Spa is notoriously unpredictable but on this occasion it was the fog around Liege which delayed first practice on Friday morning. So we started one hour later after conditions had improved sufficiently to allow the medical helicopter to land at the hospital in Liege if needed. Unfortunately during the shortened thirty minute session I had a problem with the rear damper, causing quite a bit of movement when there should not have been any. Then I had difficulty finding a good balance in the second session, so it was a rather frustrating first day as fourteenth showed. Takuma meanwhile had an engine failure and lost eighteen minutes of the second session. On my second run in qualifying I was pushing hard when my rear brakes locked-up on the downhill approaching Fagnes, the rear wheel went over the kerb and I slid off into the gravel trap.

Then I lost a couple of minutes waiting for permission to cross the track to get a lift back to the pits. Even when the T-car was set-up for me it is still hard to give the same commitment to it as my race car which feels almost part of me the way I know it and the way it responds. This is especially important at Spa, with corners like Eau Rouge which require maximum commitment in order to set a quick time. I managed to set my quickest time in the T-car to qualify fourteenth, but I was very disappointed as on the previous lap in my race car I was on target to being half-a-second quicker. Apart from the Ferrari-Bridgestone combination, the Michelin runners had much better grip and as the temperature rose they also benefited from that too.

Meanwhile we struggled all weekend to find enough speed and grip. So after studying all the telemetry Rob, my race engineer, and I decided that I had nothing to lose and possibly everything to gain by going for a one-stop strategy in the race. It would be my only hope of finishing in the points, that and the weather could play a vital part.

As it turned out the weather did not help us but the strategy proved to be the right one and I managed quite a good start considering my high fuel load, even overtaking Jacques (Villeneuve) off the line. I pushed as much as I could the whole time but eventually Jacques and Felipe (Massa) got passed me on sheer speed. However, by the time the first pit stops were made I was beginning to climb up the field until I was running as high as sixth until I made my one and only pit stop on lap 21, which dropped me back to fifteenth. However our strategy looked good if I could keep on pushing and if anyone had problems I could pick up another point. Unfortunately with just six laps remaining my engine exploded big time when I was in seventh place approaching Les Combes - where engines are under maximum stress.

For a brief moment it was very scary and when I saw the replays on the big screens it certainly looked spectacular. It was a big disappointment and a worry as there were five engine failures between British American Racing and Jordan during the weekend. However I'm confident that the Honda engineers will correct it in time for the Italian Grand Prix to enable me to give the team and my family and friends cause for celebration.

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.