[KANdaddy]

I have been hearing rumors of this for years and I know Rossi has driven a Ferrari F1 car many, many times. This link from Ferrari.com has a number of articles about his most recent drive last week - http://www.ferrari.com/English/News/...arcellona.aspx

Anyone have more info? I'd love to see Rossi in F1 at some point. After dominating Moto GP for so many years you'd think he'd get his people to make the F1 ride happen ASAP. I love this guy...such a great personality and so humble. I happen to think he'd be successful in F1.

[Ramos]

My speculation is that Ferrari wants him as insurance in case Felipe is not back to his old self after the accident.... if he fails to get back to speed, then I suspect he might be replaced with Rossi

All the best to Massa though... I am hopeful he will be back at 100%

[mach330]

as much as i love rossi, i would like him to continue with motogp until he breaks agostini's all time win record of 122. i think he's at 103. but then again he does a lot of offseason so maybe he can do f1 during his offseason. they overlap though.

[SIEN]

I doubt Rossi will go to Ferrari. It's more of a dream, a hobby, much like rally.

It would be great if he did, although I'd miss him horribly in MotoGP, just wouldn't be the same, nobody else has got any personality. If anything the speculation just gives him more power when it comes to new contract time though.

I think he's got the speed though. Even 2.5 seconds off Massa is great, given he has only ever had a few days practice in an F1 car and a few days on that specific track layout, opposed to Massas years of practice. With that in mind he is actually very quick indeed.

[Bartman619]

...i just think if he keeps putting it off every year, he's just going to get too old and lose his edge. i think he should do it next year after his contract with Yamaha is over if he's ever to have any chance at all with Ferrari or any other team.

[ianbiz]

Originally Posted by Bartman619

...i just think if he keeps putting it off every year, he's just going to get too old and lose his edge. i think he should do it next year after his contract with Yamaha is over if he's ever to have any chance at all with Ferrari or any other team.

this

[MontegoblueE92]

The point you're all missing is that Rossi might be well known and a good racer, but Ferrari already has Fisichella. So if Massa can't race then Giancarlo will be waiting in the wings. Next season, Rossi won't make it either. He'll be 31, which is just too old for a person to begin really learning the ins and outs of F1.

Essentially, Rossi is running at or below Luca Badoer's pace. Why would Ferrari bring in a man who runs at the same speed as a test driver who they've had for over a decade that they pulled after a few races? Valentino's only hope would be at a backmarker team, which would do nothing for his image. He'd be starting from a bad position in a shit car every race.

I admit, he is running very strongly for someone with almost no seat time. But nobody will bring in someone at his age to begin learning an F1 car. With the in-season testing ban, it's not like Rossi will rapidly gain pace. And why would a team spend countless millions for a name when they could bring in a GP2 racer in their early 20s?

[SIEN]

One word. Marketing.

They are in the sport for marketing their brand. Having Vale race in their car would increase their exposure by a large % and draw in even bigger crowds.

As you said though, he would be a back marker for at least the first season (I am a massive fan so believe after a season he would pick it up and start fighting).

Originally Posted by MontegoblueE92

The point you're all missing is that Rossi might be well known and a good racer, but Ferrari already has Fisichella. So if Massa can't race then Giancarlo will be waiting in the wings. Next season, Rossi won't make it either. He'll be 31, which is just too old for a person to begin really learning the ins and outs of F1.

Essentially, Rossi is running at or below Luca Badoer's pace. Why would Ferrari bring in a man who runs at the same speed as a test driver who they've had for over a decade that they pulled after a few races? Valentino's only hope would be at a backmarker team, which would do nothing for his image. He'd be starting from a bad position in a shit car every race.

I admit, he is running very strongly for someone with almost no seat time. But nobody will bring in someone at his age to begin learning an F1 car. With the in-season testing ban, it's not like Rossi will rapidly gain pace. And why would a team spend countless millions for a name when they could bring in a GP2 racer in their early 20s?

[Ramos]

Was Massa also running on the GP2 spec tires or F1 tires?

[RodTheFemur]

I was under the impression that Rossi's tests for Ferrari were a reward for his most recent MotoGP title.

There are too many other drivers with a much better F1 pedigree (Fisichella, Badoer, etc.) for Ferrari to put Rossi into a race seat, among the other good reasons posted above.

[MontegoblueE92]

Originally Posted by Ramos

Was Massa also running on the GP2 spec tires or F1 tires?

He was running the exact same car as Rossi, with GP2 tires. Hence my reasoning that Rossi's time is not enough to push him up to F1.

[Ramos]

Originally Posted by RodTheFemur

I was under the impression that Rossi's tests for Ferrari were a reward for his most recent MotoGP title.

There are too many other drivers with a much better F1 pedigree (Fisichella, Badoer, etc.) for Ferrari to put Rossi into a race seat, among the other good reasons posted above.

Badoer :c onfused0068:
Were you asleep last season when he replaced Massa and went slower than my grandmother?

[MontegoblueE92]

Originally Posted by Ramos

Badoer :c onfused0068:
Were you asleep last season when he replaced Massa and went slower than my grandmother?

Sadly, that's still faster than Rossi.

[RodTheFemur]

Originally Posted by MontegoblueE92

Sadly, that's still faster than Rossi.

Agreed. Badoer was slow as hell at Valenci, but still probably faster than Rossi.

Still not my first choice. Too bad Schumi's neck was still problematic. That would have been something...

[revster]

Rossi is having fun at Ferrari's expense. They love the publicity during these lean winter days when there's nothing for the press to cover.

And regarding the much maligned Luca Badoer, where was the hue and cry when Fisichella, a driver with race-winning speed in a Force India wagon, literally stank up the joint tooling around with the backmarkers?

Badoer's excuse was a near complete lack of testing and time in a 2009 F1 car.

What was Fisichella's?

Surely it wasn't because the F60 was a dog of an F1 car, just look at Kimi's blazing speed!

[MontegoblueE92]

Originally Posted by revster

Badoer's excuse was a near complete lack of testing and time in a 2009 F1 car.

What was Fisichella's?

Surely it wasn't because the F60 was a dog of an F1 car, just look at Kimi's blazing speed!

That's the point. The F60 was just that bad, and Raikkonen is just that good. Fisichella is not that bad of a driver. In both 05 and 06 he was only beaten by top tier drivers: Alonso, Schumacher, Massa, and Montoya.

You're also forgetting the fact that development was halted on the F60. So that means that the maximum pace of the chassis was moving further down the field, essentially making it a "theoretical backmarker" by the end of the season. It was coming down to the driver, and Raikkonen is one of the best out there right now.

This is also leaving out the fact that it is a different car altogether. It is built differently, with different handling tendencies and aerodynamics, not to mention KERS. Just because someone does well in one car does not make him a star in every car. Would Hamilton be suited to an understeering R29? Probably not. It is not easy to go from one car to another in the span of 3 days (Belgian GP to Friday practice at Monza). He had absolutely no seat time and not enough testing time to really be placed on driving skill.

[revster]

Originally Posted by MontegoblueE92

That's the point. The F60 was just that bad, and Raikkonen is just that good. Fisichella is not that bad of a driver. In both 05 and 06 he was only beaten by top tier drivers: Alonso, Schumacher, Massa, and Montoya.

You're also forgetting the fact that development was halted on the F60. So that means that the maximum pace of the chassis was moving further down the field, essentially making it a "theoretical backmarker" by the end of the season. It was coming down to the driver, and Raikkonen is one of the best out there right now.

This is also leaving out the fact that it is a different car altogether. It is built differently, with different handling tendencies and aerodynamics, not to mention KERS. Just because someone does well in one car does not make him a star in every car. Would Hamilton be suited to an understeering R29? Probably not. It is not easy to go from one car to another in the span of 3 days (Belgian GP to Friday practice at Monza). He had absolutely no seat time and not enough testing time to really be placed on driving skill.

The tifosi, the Italian press and the legion of F1 punters are not interested in facts.

That's why when Fisichella stank up the joint, they all shifted their anger to Kimi and blamed Ferrari's woes on his lazy attitude.

And now Gerhard Berger is saying that the new F10 is slow and a B version is already in the works.

Wonder how long it will take before Alonso gets thrown under the bus...

[MontegoblueE92]

Originally Posted by revster

The tifosi, the Italian press and the legion of F1 punters are not interested in facts.
That's why when Fisichella stank up the joint, they all shifted their anger to Kimi and blamed Ferrari's woes on his lazy attitude.

And now Gerhard Berger is saying that the new F10 is slow and a B version is already in the works.

Wonder how long it will take before Alonso gets thrown under the bus...

Actually, you couldn't be more wrong.

Fact: Kimi Raikkonen was getting paid $50 million a year.

He wasn't driving to the standard expected of someone getting paid like that. Not only that, but he didn't care about anything except racing. Ferrari is much more than just racing.

Kimi is one of the greats to hit the sport, but unfortunately he was born a few decades too late. F1 drivers have to do much more than race. F1 is now a huge business and Kimi couldn't impress the sponsors with his "I'll show up on Sunday and drive the pants off the car" attitude. They wanted more than that. A guy who does ads and who likes to talk to the press and just enjoys PR.

[revster]

Originally Posted by MontegoblueE92

They wanted more than that. A guy who does ads and who likes to talk to the press and just enjoys PR.

Like that was going to fix the F60!

When Kimi was winning, they didn't give a damn how much they were paying him or what he was doing out of the car.

[MontegoblueE92]

Originally Posted by revster

Like that was going to fix the F60!

When Kimi was winning, they didn't give a damn how much they were paying him or what he was doing out of the car.

You're missing the point of what I'm saying. The F60 was bad. We know that and so does Ferrari. But the discussion is between the two drivers.

2008 was when the questions started popping up. Massa was getting paid a fraction of what Raikkonen was making. So if Massa was the frontrunner of the team then something was wrong. This season it was the same. Kimi moved up to the top after Hungary.

It would be no different to Renault if Piquet Jr. had just come in and started being the number 1 driver. Alonso would be making number 1 salary as a number 2 driver. So why keep him around? The guy being paid the most should be out there every race showing why he is making the big bucks. Kimi, unfortunately, wasn't doing that. Fast laps are great, but winning races is better.

[revster]

Originally Posted by MontegoblueE92

You're missing the point of what I'm saying.
...
So if Massa was the frontrunner of the team then something was wrong. This season it was the same.
...
The guy being paid the most should be out there every race showing why he is making the big bucks.

Salary is not a factor in on-track performance.

That's a distraction variable for the press and fans to gnaw on.

Ferrari (and similarly, McLaren) doesn't care which of their drivers win, only that they win.

When the F60 wasn't up to snuff, they played the blame game and suckered people into pointless debates about salaries and commitment.

Clearly, it's still working.

[MontegoblueE92]

Originally Posted by revster

Salary is not a factor in on-track performance.

That's a distraction variable for the press and fans to gnaw on.

Ferrari (and similarly, McLaren) doesn't care which of their drivers win, only that they win.

When the F60 wasn't up to snuff, they played the blame game and suckered people into pointless debates about salaries and commitment.

Clearly, it's still working.

Then why do certain driver's get paid more? Salary is analogous to skill. If a driver can't win, he doesn't get paid a ton. Alonso, 2x WDC, and Raikkonen, hailed as the next Schumacher, made the most money by a fair margin. Why pay a guy a ton to be second fiddle? Do you think Kovalainen made as much as Hamilton? Do you think Piquet made as much as Alonso? No. Fact of the matter is Raikkonen wasn't up to snuff when compared to his enormous salary. I'm a huge Raikkonen fan, second only to Alonso in my book, but he did lose his form after leaving McLaren in 2005. Even when he won his WDC in 07 I didn't think he was driving on par with his year in 05. He kept going down, whether it was motivational issues or not, and now Ferrari dropped him.