Schumacher cancels comeback, Badoer steps in

[timbo]

I hope and pray that somehow Ferrari find it in their hearts to return his loyalty by allowing Luca Badoer to race a Formula One Ferrari at Monza.

+1.
I also think that in Monza he may finally come to shape to delievr something in race.

[ESPImperium]

Personally i can see the replacement getting replaced. There is the guy who is managed by Nicholas Todt, but i feel that he would be the wrong person. IF anyone, id say replase Badoer with dare i say their names, Bourdais or Piquet on a pay as you race deal, say £200K a race, with a 10K per point bonus.

Id have even bought out Fisi at Force India for the remainder of they year, and put him in, he has top team knowelege and would be instantly good in the F60.

Badoer has replaced Ralf Schumacher on the track as the only moving chichane. Its not a saftey issue for the other drivers, its more a saftey issue for him.

[The FOZ]

Amen that, Killens.

Badoer is in the most incredible no-win scenario. This doesn't go anywhere good for him, this isn't ending well.

It's slowest, most painful train wreck ever.

He wants to be faster, he wants to do better, but he just can't...

Shakespearean tragedy his the nail on the head.

[Fil]

IF anyone, id say replase Badoer with dare i say their names, Bourdais or Piquet on a pay as you race deal, say £200K a race, with a 10K per point bonus.
Id have even bought out Fisi at Force India for the remainder of they year, and put him in, he has top team knowelege and would be instantly good in the F60.

They won't take Seb or Jr - it would be publicised as the almighty Ferrari picking up the throw-away scraps of lesser teams.
Badoer was an honourable choic of reward for a long-serving driver.

Fisi is an interesting choice but would have to be bought out from his FIF1 contract, at Vijay's price.


I think their next option is the rookie Mirko Bortolotti from F2. He was faster around Fiorano on his 08 F1 testing debut in the F2008 than Kimi, so he has pace, plus he's Italian, plus he's a rookie & young (matching Ferrari's recent comments about a young driver programme).

[andartop]

People keep talking about Italian drivers to do the job, but if you look at Ferrari's colourful history it is quite clear they always avoided using Italians. It doesn't make much sense to most of the world, but for the Italian mentality and huge media pressure it is reasonable, as well as from a marketing point of view (99.999% of Italians are tifosi anyway, they don't need an Italian driver as well!). There was a time Fisico was considered one of the top 5 drivers on the grid, and he was also voted once as best of them all by the drivers themselves. He said it a million times that he'd sell his kidneys to drive for Ferrari. He was available. But he is Italian, thus he never stood a chance. To actually think they would pay money in order to steal him from another team especially at this stage in his career is pure madness!

[The FOZ]

Interesting...according to Inside Grand Prix, Schumacher is still training hard, hoping to overcome his injury.

[Sawtooth-spike]

I just read this headline

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2009/08/ ... -at-monza/

I am going to email ferrari, because i would like to race at monza too. I am confidant i could finsh last. Plus i bet i would be more entertaining!

Sorry, but a 1st and last is a joke! Badoer had as much TV Coverage as 1 of the grid girls! I am sure he is a nice guy, and i feel sorry for him, But he is not good enough to be out there.

[Carlos]

It would be good to see Luca race at Monza. I don't think cars will sit on the lot if he drives at Monza. Letting him drive tells everyone on the team Ferrari respects the dedication of each one of them.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying give him a 3 year contract and number 1 status. I'm saying let a man's dream come true. It's not about competition, it's about sportsmanship and loyalty. When Shumacher couldn't race we knew things were going bad. Luca could have said no. He knew racing again would make him a hero if he did well and a lot less if he didn't. He got in the car. He may not be a team leader but he's always been a good wingman for Ferrari. He's always had the team's back.

[WhiteBlue]

Ferrari needs to stop Luca Badoer embarassing himself even further. He has made the worst entry or comeback to the sport I can remember. When has a professional driver ever been the butt of all paddock jokes before? You probably have to look at some hapless promotions of Japanese drivers or some of Minardi's pay drivers to come up with something remotely comparable. There are enough mediocre drivers let alone good ones to get in that red car. Last time Mika Salo prooved that a replacement driver can even win races if you select the right one. Ferrari have enough egg on their face. Come on guys!

[timbo]

Last time Mika Salo prooved that a replacement driver can even win races if you select the right one.

Mika was racing at BAR when he was called to Ferrari. He could've also tested as much as he needed.

[The FOZ]

I think this issue is bigger than Luca.

The all-encompassing, blanket testing ban that FOTA dreamed up has officially bitten a key member in the ass. It sucked for STR bringing Alguersuari. It wasn't bad for Renault with Grosjean. But it has officially shown itself to be a shortsighted effort that's caused more harm than good.

Sad thing is, I think Ferrari are the only team who actually have themselves in such a position of vulnerability.

There's some delicious irony there...

[Ciro Pabón]

I don't understand Badoer performance. He was very close to Schumacher times, as far as I remember, every time I saw test times at Fiorano. How come that now he can't "move" the car? I know he's rather old but that's really misterious.

For example, I google at random for "Fiorano test times Badoer Schumacher" and get this in the first hit:

1. M Schumacher - Ferrari - 57.538 - B
2. L Badoer - Ferrari (Test Driver) - 57.774 - B
B: Bridgestone

About the argument by andartop that Fisichella or Trulli won't bring along new fans, I can say this: how many fans does Badoer bring in? He's also italian.

Sadly, F1Rejects site is down, I haven't read the article about him (if he hasn't one, he's on his way to get one).

[Shrek]

would you call Schumi's getting out of retirement for that brief period or hasn't gotten out of retirement at all this year so far

[timbo]

I don't understand Badoer performance. He was very close to Schumacher times, as far as I remember, every time I saw test times at Fiorano. How come that now he can't "move" the car? I know he's rather old but that's really misterious.

I think it's not that strange. His last drive was 10 months ago and in different car and seems like apart from odd carting events he didn't have any track time.

Also, the amount of bashing Badoer receives speaks about how much driving has improved by now. In 1992 Mansell took pole for Belgium GP with 1:50.545 while Patrese set 1:53.557 (worth of 4th place!). Also there was almost 2 seconds between Senna and Berger in McLarens and more than 1.5 seconds between Schumacher and Brundle in Benetton.

[The FOZ]

I don't understand Badoer performance. He was very close to Schumacher times, as far as I remember, every time I saw test times at Fiorano. How come that now he can't "move" the car? I know he's rather old but that's really misterious.

Part of it is lack of race time, as opposed to track time. Being the only guy going 'round an empty track leaves you with a lot less to think about than being one of 20 guys all fighting to get past each other while going around a track. Every time he's encountered another racer, he's more pulled over to let them by than defend.

The other bit, whether it's lack of race time or not, is just plain bad luck. He's been spun more than once now, which isn't helping.

He laid down a few decent laps at Spa, but it isn't coming together terribly quickly.

Is he inordinately slow? I don't think so. Looking at the group he's racing against, he's at a huge disadvantage, and really, nobody who's been away from racing for as long as he has would stand a chance.

Ferrari have failed him by not keeping him racing in other series', and also for their part in that boneheaded testing ban.