London :Giancarlo Fisichella has been warned to shape up or ship out in what Renault describe as his last chance to prove himself.

The Italian driver has consistently underachieved in a ten-year career that has seen the 34-year-old win just three races.

"If he doesn't find it this year, then I doubt if he ever will," technical director Bob Bell told the Times newspaper on Monday.

"This, I think, really is a make-or-break year for Fisi. All we can do as a team is have confidence in his ability to rise to the challenge. We will give him the best equipment we humanly can and give him all the support we humanly can and see where that takes us."

Renault will have to rely on Fisichella next season following the departure of their star driver Fernando Alonso to McLaren.

The Spaniard has comprehensively outperformed Fisichella in the last two years with Renault winning both championships.

However, Bell warned not to write off Fisichella just yet. "We will certainly start the season working completely on the assumption that Fisi is as capable of winning the world championship as Fernando or anybody else working at that level," he said.

"Fisi is great at coming back. When he has had a bad race, he is good at putting it behind him," he said.