Malaysian GP winner says team should have Italian driver (ANSA) - Milan, March 21 - Ferrari should pay more attention to Italian drivers, according to Giancarlo Fisichella who won Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix for Renault .

Speaking at the presentation here Tuesday of a new perfume bearing his name, the Roman driver thanked Renault boss Flavio Briatore and said "he is one of the few who gives Italian drivers a chance to race and win, unlike certain Italian teams" .

"It would be nice if an Italian driver had the support of a team like Ferrari. Unfortunately, we always get the short end of the stick because everything is focused on Ferrari, the media and sponsors," the 33-year-old added .

"Still, I think that it would be important for Italy if they gave us more of a chance because an Italian would certainly be at the top of the podium more often," Fisichella said .


Asked whether he would like to see MotoGP champ Valentino Rossi switch to Formula 1, the Renault driver said "Sure, why not... At least there'd be an Italian at Ferrari" .

Over the past two years Rossi has been flirting with Ferrari which has let him test one of their Formula 1 cars privately and against official drivers .

Some pundits say that Rossi, who has little left to prove in MotoGP after winning the last five titles, is attracted by the challenge of successfully making a switch which only one man, Britain's John Surtees, has ever done before .

Surtees won four world motorcycling titles before switching to cars in 1960. In 1964, at the age of 30, he won a world title driving a Ferrari .

Italian sports fans - along with sponsors and marketing people - are thrilled by the idea that Rossi might try to be the first Italian driver to win a title in a Ferrari since Alberto Ascari in 1953 .

The late Michele Alboreto was the last Italian driver to be on the Ferrari team. He joined in 1984, the first Italian to drive for them in 17 years, and stayed through 1988 .

Ferrari stopped hiring Italian drivers after Lorenzo Bandini crashed during the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix and died three days later died from the injuries and burns he sustained in the accident .