Past & Present Italians: Antonio Vivaldi & Giancarlo Fisichella

The following is an assignment I did for Italian class in 1999. Note: I didn't follow Formula One back then. And my writing was pretty terrible. As I retyped this assignment, I found myself laughing at my choice of words. Perhaps you will too. I got a B on this assignment.

PAST & PRESENT ITALIANS: ANTONIO VIVALDI & GIANCARLO FISICHELLA

ANTONIO VIVALDI

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was a musical composer. He was born in Venice on the 4th of March in 1676. He died at the age of 65 in Vienna on the 28th of July in 1741.
    Antonio's father was a violinist. At the age of 15, Antonio trained in priesthood up to 1703, when he was ordained.
    In that same year, he was Maestro di violino and the Maestro dei concerti for the Foundling Hospital in Venice. It was a girls' music school.
    Antonio spent his time composing, travelling, playing for the Pope and had an audience with Charles VI.
    In the 1730s, it became apparent that his popularity was indeed fading. The church and the Foundling Hospital disowned him.

GIANCARLO FISICHELLA

People who have been followers of Formula One motor racing since 1996 probably would've heard of Giancarlo Fisichella. He has been doing much better driving since then.
    Giancarlo was born in Rome on the 14th of January in 1973. He is still very much alive. He lives in Monte Carlo with his girlfriend Luna and daughter Carlotta.
Here's some information about Giancarlo in brief:

1984 (11 years old): Italian Championship 60cc Minikart Class. (12 wins.)
1985: Italian Championship 100cc Cadets Class. (8 wins.)
1986: Italian Championship 100cc Cadets Class. (13 wins.)
1987: Regional Champion 100cc Junior Class. Italian Championship 100cc Cadets Class. (14 wins.)
1988 (15 years old): 100cc Karting International Class.
1989: 100cc Karting International Class, 2nd in the European Championship. 4th in the World Championship. (Spain.)
1990: 100cc Karting International Class, 3rd in the Intercontinental Championship. (Hong Kong.)
1991: 100cc Karting International Class, 2nd in the European Championship. First Formula Three and Formula Opel Lotus tests.
1992: Italian Formula Three, 2nd. (1 win.)
1993 (20 years old): Italian Formula Three, 2nd. (2 wins.)
1994: Italian Formula Three Champion. (10 wins.) Winner and pole-sitter (qualified first) of the Monaco Formula Three Grand Prix.
1995: Formula One test driver for Minardi, German Touring Cars and ITC for Alfa Romeo, 4 podium finishes. (In the top three for four rounds.)
1996: Formula One with Minardi. (8 Grands Prix.) Formula One test driver for Ferrari. ITC for Alfa Romeo.
1997: Formula One with Jordan. 8th with 20 points.
1998: Formula One with Benetton. 9th with 16 points.
1999 (26 years old): Formula One with Benetton. Currently 8th with 13 points.

In my opinion, Giancarlo is the best current Italian Formula One driver. He drives for Benetton with his Austrian partner, Alexander Wúrz. The other current Italian drivers are Alessandro (Alex) Zanardi, Luca Badoer and Jarno Trulli. Alex drives for Williams, Luca for Minardi and Jarno for Prost.
    Benetton's points were low last season; Giancarlo's were the only bright spots. He had two 2nd places in Monaco and Canada. To be fair to Giancarlo and Alexander, the Benetton cars are not good enough to win the championship, but the drivers are trying their best with what they have.
    In 1997 he was so impressive that Jordan and Benetton went to court to secure his services for 1998 - Benetton won. He had a brilliant pole position (qualified first, meaning first on the grid to start the Grand Prix) in Austria, but unfortunately he didn't win.
    Giancarlo has led races in the past three years, proving that he is a very good driver. He led the 1997 German GP, after qualifying second, before he lost one of his wheels and was forced to go into the pits. After getting pole in the 1998 Austrian GP, he led until retiring later in the race. In this year's European GP at the Nürburgring, many of the top drivers had difficulty in the wet weather. After two of the leaders retired, Giancarlo led for several laps before skidding out into a wall. Only 9 of 22 starters finished.
    Giancarlo is not the first Italian Formula One driver, and certainly not the last. There have been two Italian World Champions: Giuseppe Farina and Alberto Ascari, and many have come close. One day Giancarlo hopes to win this championship.
    His father was not a racer. Other drivers like Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve had fathers who raced. (Graham Hill and Gilles Villeneuve were pretty good drivers.) Giancarlo just raced because he liked it.
    Giancarlo holds the track record in Cataluña, Spain. He was in a Jordan. His time was (for fastest lap) 1 minute, 22 seconds and 242 split seconds (1:22.242) in 1997.
    Giancarlo will be staying with Benetton in 2000, alongside partner Alexander Wúrz.

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