AMSTERDAM - Renault driver Giancarlo Fisichella said this season was surely his best chance yet of becoming Formula One world champion and he was determined not to waste the opportunity.
The Roman will line up in Australia on March 18 as the French manufacturer's lead driver following doublechampion Fernando Alonso's switch to McLaren, who failed to win a race last year for the first time in a decade.
Fisichella's teammate will be Finnish rookie Heikki Kovalainen, who can be expected to take a few races to find his feet despite stepping into Alonso's shoes with a bright reputation as the coming man.
"Hopefully, it's not the last chance (of winning the title)," Fisichella, 34, said at the launch of Renault's 2007 car today.
"Let's say maybe it's the best chance I've had in my life and I need to do it."
The last Italian to win the championship was Alberto Ascari with Ferrari in 1953.
Fisichella, whose contract with Renault runs only to the end of this year, has started the last two seasons full of optimism.
Yet, despite having a world-beating car, he has ended each campaign in the shadow of Spaniard Alonso.
With the two quickest men in Formula One, Alonso and Finn Kimi Raikkonen, adjusting to new teams, and seven times world champion Michael Schumacher retired, Fisichella can hope again.
"I'm really confident already now, especially after the test (of the new car) in Jerez," he said.
"We are confident that if we have built as competitive and reliable a car as the last two years, we can do well again."
