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Been out for a light yera, constantly whining, hysterical little girl? So nothing objective to say from you, eh?! And I was thinking we are supposed to asses racing skils. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Saint Devote
PS: Sato did drive F1 cars in winter testing. ;)
What this situation shows, and what I think Devote is getting at, is that the Ferrari structure with regard to available drivers leads a lot to be desired.
A pensioner with a cricked neck and a driver who hasn't raced for a decade isn't the greatest bit of driver development programming.
And what I suppose you are leading to is that there are no future WDC's out of a job right now looking for a ride!Quote:
Originally Posted by tamburello
The corollary to this theory is that if there was such a driver, he would have been signed up by one of the teams before the start of this year. I guess I am a Sudoku addict, which leads me to think in logical terms.
Except Fernando (for just one race), and, of course, greedy Bernie would like to line his pockets by hoping Renault would release him for the Valencia drive.
Not quite what i meant. The "future WDC" didn't need to be out of a drive this year....he needed to be signed up to a development driver scheme a la Vettel, a la Hulkenburg, a la Kubica all were or are.Quote:
Originally Posted by Valve Bounce
Ferrari traditionally just cherry pick talent....which is ok if you don't mind paying top dollar and don't mind when circumstances mean your choice of back-up is severely limited.
Massa was more a Todt protege than a Ferrari one so doesn't really count as a true driver development scheme product, but his rise alone should have shown Ferrari management the value of taking aother young hotshoe under their wing.
True. But surely the fact that he was overlooked by smaller teams would mean that he certainly wouldn't be good enough to drive for a front runner.Quote:
Originally Posted by ioan
I also agree with Tamb's point that Ferrari is perhaps one of the only teams who don't have a a young up and coming tester/reserve. I do recall a youngster testing for ferrari perhaps 12 months ago (I think he was an F3 guy) but I can't recall more details off the top of my head. Anyone know who he was?
A bit of googling suggests the guy was Mirko Bortolotti. But a prize for success in italian F3 is hardly a proper development program.
Not sure I understand what one of the only teams exactly means.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonic
Well I thought to myself; who doesn't have a decent youngster in the test role or in the works in a lower formula? Answer = Ferrari & Force India (IMO) hence my statement that they are one of the only (as opposed to the only).
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/71438
"Ferrari to set up young driver scheme
By Charles Bradley and Steven English Thursday, October 16th 2008, 11:28 GMT
Ferrari are in the process of setting up a young driver development programme to find and bring on talent for the future.
Rival manufacturers including Mercedes, Renault, Toyota and Honda have long brought drivers through the junior ranks on similar schemes, and of the drivers currently on the fringes of Formula One, GP2 race winners Lucas di Grassi, Romain Grosjean, Kamui Kobayashi and Luca Filippi are all contracted to F1 manufacturers already.
Ferrari F1 team boss Stefano Domenicali has revealed that they now want to introduce a similar scheme.
"Our plan is to have a young driver programme connected to F1 in the future," he told Italian magazine SportAutoMoto.
"In these times of cost-cutting, it's not easy to start a new programme, but we need good drivers for the future. Nothing is defined yet, but you will know details soon."
That was in October 08, and I don't recall seeing any details since then, so it would appear that it didn't happen.
Perhaps they are selecting prospective drivers this year and will start to support them next year.
Force India have a young driver in the current lineup and I think VM is looking to bring young Indian drivers to F1. Not exactly a young driver program but better than nothing.