The last three Grands Prix of the year were disappointing for Giancarlo Fisichella, but his sights are already set on 2003, with the new Ford-powered Jordan he is hoping will allow him to enjoy a great year. But, with the racing season now over, our Fisico has time to spend with the family and make the list of Christmas presents. All this and more, through Fisico's visor...

Right now I am being a regular guy and thoroughly enjoying family life at home in Monaco. It is such a good feeling to be in one place for the past month instead of constantly travelling. It is also getting closer to the time when we are looking forward to: the arrival of an additional member to our family, as Luna is already seven months pregnant. So Carlotta will not have much longer to wait for her new playmate.

As you probably remember, we all spent some great times on 'Fizzy' in the summer, so for now we are not making anything special like going away for a holiday, we prefer to be at home. For instance, taking Carlotta to school is a beautiful novelty for me and at this age I see a big difference in her development, most especially the way she manages to persuade me to do things, it is very endearing.

Luna is also making the most of going shopping with me, again, this is an enjoyable novelty but then it is a pretty rare occurrence. Doing normal every day things, visiting cafes, and having meals with friends - is great to have the time to really relax after the constant travelling we do over a Grand Prix season. That is the worst part - especially the inevitable delays at airports, but I guess you all have some bad experiences like that from your holidays or while travelling to the Grands Prix. At least I generally miss all the traffic jams after the race because I generally use a helicopter to fly off to the airport.

However where fog can be expected, at places like Silverstone or Spa, we drive through the lanes to and from the track but always with a scooter on-board so that I can use it if we encounter heavy traffic. Fortunately it did not happen this year, but even Mika (Hakkinen) was caught out two years ago at Silverstone when the British Grand Prix was held in April. Thick fog had grounded all helicopter flights and the traffic started to build up in the narrow lanes from around 5.30am (I was reliably informed) causing big problems. So a team member had to be quickly called from the paddock to rescue him on a scooter! Jenson's (Button) mother was not so lucky as she arrived just in time to see the last half-an-hour of her son's first home Grand Prix. Of course, this year with the new road system there were no problems getting into Silverstone. Spa is another story, which I will write about later.

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I shall be visiting my team at Silverstone later this month for a seat-fitting and that will give me a chance to see the progress on my new car. I am already getting excited about our prospects for next year. The fact that I cannot test until early next year only heightens my motivation and fuels my hunger to return to the cockpit. I feel highly motivated with the Jordan team as we have a very good understanding of each other. I had a good feeling and motivation with them back in 1997 but now we are even stronger together.

I also believe we have a very strong package for next year - the engine is proven and reliable and the chassis was handling better towards the end of the season, so I am eager to see what Gary Anderson and Henri Durand have produced for next season. I think they both represent a fantastic partnership and I think they will produce a highly competitive package for me next year. After the struggles and difficulties we had at the beginning of the season, we all pulled together and achieved some good results mid-season. Takuma had a great result in the final round in Japan. I was so pleased for him and the team. Although I was disappointed when my engine expired, it was a truly great result for Takuma.

I am looking forward to restarting my training preparation in the middle of this month when Gianpaolo, Marco and I will spend about two weeks in Bormio, to do some high-altitude skiing. Bormio, is a beautiful place high in the Alps, to the North of Milan, and it is where the 2005 Winter Skiing World Championship will be held. I really love skiing, it is so exhilarating and an enjoyable addition to my regular training programme. When we return home I will then start my traditional programme. Initially I will start with some weight training in the gym, followed by jogging, cycling and swimming. Then I start an intensive autogenous programme with Marco. I will be working about five to six hours a day for six days using a degree of Muay Thai philosophy - which aims to balance the mind and body to work in harmony.

I will be doing several cross training activities like strength and resistance and isometric exercises. Sometimes when I work on those exercises the tiredness can be quite hard to bear, but then I reach a stage beyond tiredness as though my mind has detached itself from my body in a state of auto-hypnosis. I find it helps me to overcome the tiredness when I concentrate my mind on driving around a track - taking each corner in sequence; then I don't feel the tiredness at all. It just feels great when I finish a session, have a long shower and then Marco gives me a deep massage - then I am in heaven - primed ready for my new Jordan Ford!

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Thinking back over the last three Grands Prix seems like only yesterday, then in another moment it seems like another lifetime ago. For sure whenever I race at the Autodrome Nationale, another one of the great traditional circuits in the world, I feel a great warmth for being at another of my 'home' Grands Prix. I always love racing at Monza, it is one of the truly great circuits which offers a driver an exhilarating high-speed challenge. The atmosphere is always buzzing with excitement and anticipation, especially when the tifosi start cheering for Ferrari - which is most of the time - it is really fantastic!

On Wednesday 11th September the Grand Prix drivers football team played against a squad of fashion designers in a charity match. What a different atmosphere to a year ago... Michael was the star striker, scoring the one and only winning goal. During the Grand Prix weekend I was also busy with several sponsor's dinners to attend on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening. We even had an English celebrity chef (Gary Rhodes) cooking lunch for us, you might have seen it on your TV screens. Afterwards he told me that he loves cars almost as much as he loves cooking. But now let us return to the Italian Grand Prix and my real life in the cockpit.

When it came to free practice we were experiencing a few problems with the tyres which seemed to need at least three laps to get them working properly so we knew qualifying was going to be a challenge to get in the top ten. So I decided to go for a double timed lap strategy. It was tough as I expected but we were rather unlucky because my fastest time on my second lap was ruined by a red flag incident. So I had to settle with 12th position. Although we were running with the new step Honda engine we were still down on power compared to the leading teams so we felt we had no option than to chose a one-stop strategy for the race. At the start I encountered problems with the launch-control system which cost me four or five positions. However, as the race got underway I began to push really hard, which was not that easy because the car was heavy with a big fuel load. The balance of the car felt good and I believed that with our strategy there was a real possibility of finishing 4th or 5th and winning some more Championship points. However the problem at the start spoiled that opportunity and I finished 8th. Congratulations to Michael, Rubens and Ferrari for their great result - it was fantastic to see them on top of the spectacular new podium with the thousands of tifosi going wild beneath them!

A couple of days testing at Silverstone (18th, 19th September) gave us the last opportunity to work on evaluating brakes, control systems, aerodynamics, different set-ups and tyres before the final two Grands Prix of the season at Indianapolis and Suzuka. They are both great circuits offering very different challenges. At Indianapolis I ran most of the first session on Friday with a heavy fuel load and I felt confident of getting in the top ten for qualifying, possibly even as high as 8th. Although I had to be mindful of the banking in the morning as it was slightly damp! In the last half-an-hour the track developed more grip but then the session was red-flagged when Rubens slammed into the wall. Qualifying was as tough as I expected and although I achieved my target to get within the top ten, I felt that if I had got all the sectors absolutely right I could have moved up a couple of places from my ninth grid position. The car felt strong and the engine was performing well so I was confident of scoring points in the race.

There was a fantastic atmosphere around the circuit on race day and I am not surprised to read that there were 200,000 attending the United States Grand Prix. Again we opted for a one-stop strategy and although my launch-control system worked well I was struggling in the race with oversteer as the tyres lost grip after a few laps. Then the grip came back 15-20 laps later and so I was able to push really hard again. It was disappointing for us all to miss out on the points by just one position. But nothing stays the same for long in Formula One so it was on with the business of focussing on getting points at the final race in Suzuka.

On the flight back to Nice after the Grand Prix several of us drivers - David (Coulthard), Olivier (Panis) and Allan (McNish) were discussing what was so difficult about oval racing and in particular the Indy 500. We were taking the first corner of the oval - after exiting the last corner of the F1 track - at 200mph. It was then that the former CART Champion, Indy 500 winner and F1 Tyrrell driver Danny Sullivan explained that whereas we run with lots of downforce (compared to the Indy drivers) to cope with the twisty F1 infield. The Indy drivers, who use less downforce because of running on the oval, arrive at that corner at 240mph and take it at 230mph! Hey! Point taken.

It was fantastic to see the fans' reaction to Takuma when we arrived at the circuit in Suzuka on Thursday. He had a difficult first season but he is a very quick driver, a very honest guy, very charming and I think he has improved a lot during the year. In Friday's free practice I was struggling with the balance, the car felt quite nervous through the S bends so we knew we had some work to do to try and improve the set-up; 11th and 10th was the best that I could achieve. However when it came to qualifying the session was stopped for more than an hour after Allan (McNish) had a big accident exiting 130R and the barriers had to be repaired.

Again it is congratulations to the FIA Safety Commission that all the improvements made to F1 cars today that Allan survived the huge accident unscathed. Although I missed improving on my last run because the downshift suddenly went mad, I was really happy that Takuma made his best qualifying performance at his home Grand Prix finishing one place ahead of me in seventh. A good result for the team and it looked good for us in the race.

The team did a brilliant job to adjust the T-car for me within fifteen minutes (which was set-up for Takuma) as my engine expired on the installation lap! At the start I dropped from 8th to 11th and then I pushed hard as I could having a good battle with Mika (Salo) and Jacques (Villeneuve). I was running in 7th place when I made my first pitstop, then after my second pitstop on lap 25 I dropped from 10th to 11th. Jacques (Villeneuve) was really trying to harass me into making a mistake - Oh Yeah! Then on lap 28 he retired with a blown engine. Unfortunately I suffered the same problem when my Honda let go ten laps later. However, I am really delighted that the luck seemed to be with Takuma that day and he scored a great fifth place, the best of his career at the Japanese Grand Prix. A great reward for him and our team so that we finished the season sixth in the Constructors' Championship.

I cannot finish with the Japanese Grand Prix weekend without mentioning the fantastic support I received once again from my official fan club in Japan. They had arranged a wonderful gathering with so many fans waiting to ask me questions and get my autograph and have their photograph taken with me. They really are such delightful people and so enthusiastic about Formula One - it is a great feeling to have such support around the world. It really makes a difference and that is why it is great to have this opportunity of sharing my experiences with Atlas F1 readers.

I also had an opportunity of answering questions via the telephone link-up at the recent Jordan Grand Prix Fan Club Open Day. 1,000 members turned up to meet my team, have a tour of the factory and enjoy the hospitality in a marquee outside Jordan's headquarters. One of the questions I was asked was whether I minded signing autographs - of course I don't mind. It is great to be able to give something back to our fans and supporters - I will say it again, but our fans are all very important to the team and to me. It is a fantastic feeling to see a mass of yellow in the grandstands and knowing that all those fans are supporting the Jordan team.

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Traditionally the last two months of the year start filling up with party invitations and my first one will be in Slovakia on 21st of this month. From the moment I arrive in Slovakia I shall be attending a full day of media events including a press conference, and TV and radio interviews in between a sponsor lunch hosted by one of our sponsors Damovo. I am looking forward to visiting Slovakia for the first time. Then on December 13th I will be returning to England for the Jordan Christmas party which should be great fun, so I will tell you what I can (!) about these two events in my next column.

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Finally, looking at the rule changes for next year I feel that anything that helps to improve everyone's enjoyment of Formula One, whether you are watching at the track or on TV, it is very important. I think the change in the points system is more democratic and will give more of an incentive and reward to the midfield teams.

Having qualifying on Friday and Saturday with a one lap 'super pole time' should add to the excitement with every car getting good television exposure. Of course the weather and mechanical gremlins will add quite a lot of spice during the season and we could see some unusual grids but again we will have to see how this new system develops. Setting a quick time early in a session has never been a problem, it is what I have always done. I have also had good experience of setting one-off super pole times like this when I raced for Alfa Romeo in the DTM and then the ITC the following year, so I am quite used to that discipline. It will still be interesting to see what happens next year.

As far as the new tyre regulation is concerned I think we will have to wait and see. In theory it seems a good idea but we will have to see when all the cars take to the track. I think it is the correct decision to ban team orders if it could interfere with a race result but of course it is very difficult to police.

As far as testing is concerned I think it could be good for the spectators and for television and it should help the smaller teams by cutting travel costs, etc. It will be interesting to see which teams chose to test at a Grand Prix weekend.

I was very, very sad to learn that Spa had been dropped from next year's Championship. It is one of the great circuits in the world - such a big, big part of the history of Formula One. I really hope that it will be included for the 2004 Championship for us drivers who love the challenge of this marvelous circuit and for all the fans.

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Christmas is very special for me, like all Italians as I am sure it is for you too. We all gather together to make a traditional family celebration with my parents and Luna's parents in Rome. It is a wonderfully exciting time for the children with the expectations of what surprises and presents Santa Claus might bring. For me, the present I am looking forward to receiving is from my three big Friends, with the emphasis on BIG (great) - Eddie, Gary and Henri, who work around Silverstone! The present - a winning car!

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.