Luca Badoer Finally Gets Ferrari Drive

[BDunnell]

Yes, you may have a point, ioan.

[jens]

i am really amazed at people with all the post which actually question why luca was given the chance

After being a loyal employee for nearly 10 years with a team. why would not like the team reward him with a drive

Even though everyone wants to have the best guy in the race seat. we still are humans we still value relations and people close to us. at least do that

Luca might be rusty agree . but still people at ferrari would love to reward him for the his association for a long time he has been with the team.

Luca if tried would have landed a sure shot driver with the small teams . but he bilieved in ferrari and stuck with them during good and both bad times.

so whats wrong in giving him a try. its a temp seat only. not a full year drive.


to all the sarcastic posters on luca.

If u question Luca ability. i suggest u go and drive the ferrari. would love to see your neck break when u turn into turn 1 in ur out lap from pits.

If u do not value relationship and live a self centric live. then suicide is the best option


I am done with this post

Heh. Well, the more I think about it, the more the thought of Luca making one farewell return to F1 sounds interesting. But still it would have made far more sense to give Gene a chance at Valencia and Badoer at Monza, not the other way around, which Ferrari might do.

And in terms of questioning Badoer's "ability", then when realistically assessing his chances, it's going to be rather difficult for him to get through to Q2. The competition nowadays is so tight that even losing by 3-4 tenths to Kimi he could qualify almost ten positions backwards.

The main argument for giving Badoer his last F1 chance is indeed about 'rewarding' him for his hard work, and certainly not his performance or ability as a racing driver. So it's quite logical that there is scepticism about his performance level at a Formula One Grand Prix.

[seb_sh]

I subscribe to the view that Badoer was give the drive as sort of a consolation prize. He was never a top driver but he put in the hours testing and it was an emotional choice to give him some races. If there was more at stake they probably would have gone with someone else maybe Bourdais or Piquet as at least they have experience with current cars and have shown some speed at times. All in all, it will be interesting to see how Luca does.

[Saint Devote]

Anyway, Badoer will get a race in the F60 as reward for his almost 10 years as a a devoted test driver. We'll see how he goes.

Badoer has been well paid and drives f1 Ferraris, so "devoted employee" is not exactly appropriate. What else would he have done?

[Saint Devote]

Sato, Bourdais, Piquet Jr., just pick one of them and you are guaranteed to pick a better racer than Badoer.

Never.
Sato has been out of a racing car for a light year and to consider him would have made Ferrari look even more incompetent than they have this year.

The other two did not make good use of their drives and never stopped complaining - Bourdais was constantly whining and of course now we know that Piquet is an hysterical little girl.

Point is they they do not deserve to be in a Ferrari, regardless.

[Saint Devote]

I'm not going to be as hard on Luca as some, but there is certainly some truth in what you say.

And would you concur that in the wake of Massa's accident it ought to spur Ferrari towards deciding who is going to be their new crew - both race and test drivers.

I think Massa's accident was career ending and this also has something to do with Montezemolo's third car wish.

Unless the Ferrari culture has changed, which I doubt, I would not at all be surprised to find the scuderia sign Kubica and Alonso.

And THAT, may well be a nitro team mix - although I remember how everyone thought that the Scheckter-Villeneuve mix would shatter Ferrari - but what an incredible team it would be. Given a good car they would win for Ferrari.

[Valve Bounce]

Not one of my favorites when he was racing for Honda, as most people here know. He was, nevertheless quite good in his first year in F1. Although he was fast, he was also prone to accidents. Then came his second year T Honda which was a disaster. Pitted against a smooth bunsen, around whom the car was set up, Sato started to come up with moves in races which he never even tried in quals, practice or even in testing.

But when Super Aguri was created, Sato had a good mate in ant for team mate, and the two put in some good performances in both quals and some races, until Honda realised these two guys, in outdated cars were making the factory Hondas look silly. So Honda hobbled Super Aguri by denying them upgraded parts and when that didn't work, they pulled the plug.

So for anyone to say that Sato has been out of racing for a light year or alluded to the fact that he would make Ferrari look incompetent is simply posting delusional crap here to try to pat himself on his back to make himself look knowledgeable and important in this forum.

So, for once, I have to agree with ioan. At least ioan backs himself with facts, not stuff like a cross between a bulldog and shytesu.

Badoer has been given the drive because he has been a loyal Ferrari test driver for years, and I suspect that without any prior testing of this car, nobody else available would have done anything spectacular like getting on the podium anyway. And if, by chance, he did well, there would indeed be a feel good ending to the story.

[callum122]

I think it's great Luca got the drive, he deserves it. Perhaps Schumacher will continue to train, work the neck muscles and take the seat from him for Belgium.

Anyway, Valencia prediction for Badoer: Qual 15th, Race 11th.

[leopard]

Perhaps if Badoer can finish 10th or better, Ferrari will keep his seat safe until Massa declared fit to race again.

[CNR]

will he get to drive ?
http://www.betus.com/sports-betting/...d-free-alonso/

Bernie Eccelestone, CEO of Formula One, is very sensitive to the whole thing, and he has suggested that Renault should release Alonso in order to take Massa's place on the grid.
"If Renault would release Alonso, and if Ferrari want him, it would be the best thing for Formula One, for Valencia, for everybody," Ecclestone said.
I did find that to be a curious statement coming from F1's equivalent of David Stern or Roger Goodell. When you suggest that one team essentially "borrowing" or even stealing a driver from another team, especially a two-time world champion, is "best thing for Formula One....for everybody," you are opening up a real can of worms, considering that Alonso has, by all accounts, been courted heavily by the Ferrari team to jump over.