Luca Badoer gets two days in an F60
Luca Badoer did his last circuit test in a Ferrari F2008 in December
Luca Badoer will spend two days at the wheel of the Ferrari F60 ahead of his F1 comeback at Valencia next week. According to Ferrari:
Tomorrow and Tuesday Luca will be part of a video shooting for promotional purposes behind the F60’s wheel at the Fiorano race track.
Isn’t it convenient the team should need to shoot this material in the days running up to his comeback?
Still, you have to wonder if there would be more of a fuss if it was Michael Schumacher getting two days in the F60. Particularly after Williams and the Red Bull teams moved to block him from testing (which two-thirds of F1 Fanatic readers agreed with).
It should at least give Badoer a chance to familiarise himself with the cockpit of the car. He did not drive it prior to the onset of the in-season testing ban, and if he has conducted any of Ferrari’s allocated aerodynamic test days since then it seems to have gone unrecorded.
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Red Andy said on 16th August 2009, 21:50
The rules say you can do promotional work in-season, so it’s the same for everybody. Very different to trying to get an exemption to the rules like they were trying to do with Schumacher.
Maybe the rules should be changed so you can’t use a current car in in-season promotions, but for now that’s how they are.
TommyB said on 17th August 2009, 15:34
Why weren’t people allowed new cars at Goodwood?
HounslowBusGarage said on 16th August 2009, 22:05
So what would the rules say if a driver pounded round for a few days for promotional video purposes, trying one new part after another on the car to ‘see which one looked best’?
rampante said on 16th August 2009, 22:16
Well said. Can just see it now, does this doubble defuser look better than the first one? lets just do another 6 hour photo shoot!
Xanathos said on 16th August 2009, 22:20
i think he has to use a special tyre only for promo events…so the car will be way off its usual pace, not delivering any useful data.
But it might help him to familiarise with the cockpit.
Wesley said on 16th August 2009, 22:46
Thank you HounslowBusGarage for reading my thoughts.
Ferrari never ceases to amaze me with their sneakiness.They have no shame.
Blue_linksys said on 17th August 2009, 7:16
Hi Wesley, I think you misread HounslowBus…’s comment to be against Ferrari!! Hahaha, I feel for you, he’s just commenting how the rules could be bent!! shame on you ferrari haters for being so dumb!!
Wesley said on 17th August 2009, 19:43
@ Blue_linksys
…and I too feel for you.You obviously didn’t read into the sarcasm in Hounslow’s comment….and you have to resort to calling someone dumb that you don’t even know.
James_mc said on 16th August 2009, 22:21
Surely that counts, given that Brawn and McLaren couldn’t take their current cars to Goodwood? Or is it perhaps a straight-line test but with invited press?
Leaf said on 16th August 2009, 22:23
The rules also say that the promotional shoot limits the car to 100kph. (60mph) Other than familiarizing himself with the cockpit there is nothing to be learned from this. It is within the rules. If it weren’t Williams would be whining about it. (Red Bull too)
Tiomkin said on 16th August 2009, 22:55
And should Williams and Red Bull turn a blind eye to rule breaking? That is what RULES, how ever stupid, are for, to be followed by ALL.
James_mc said on 16th August 2009, 23:00
It’s Ferrari, so yes you are supposed to! :-)
pSynrg said on 16th August 2009, 23:46
Yup, nothing can be learnt from this – but who is going to make sure he doesn’t exceed 100kph?
Familiarisation with the cockpit does not require the car to run…
In fact Ferrari could mock a cockpit up that he could take home?
gabal said on 17th August 2009, 10:52
I think you got it wrong, distance is limited in tests, not speed (if I’m not mistaken).
So – they can have a day of
testingpromotional shooting but they have to use non-2009 spec tyres and they must not do over 100 kilometers. That relates to roughly 33 laps…bwells said on 17th August 2009, 0:11
The thing is why couldn’t they use Marc Gene for the shoot? I mean as far as getting familurized with the cockpit I’m sure Ferarri has a pretty slick simulator to use.. so that would do just fine… I think it’s Ferarri looking into a loophole and again making F1 look silly… oh and don’t be fooled my friends… if Michael was still on for his comeback… it would of been him in the car… I do hope there’s some officials watching…
Phil said on 17th August 2009, 17:41
Most of the teams have pretty poor simulators as until this season there wasn’t really the need for them. The two exceptions are McLaren who have spent tens of millions and have (apparently) the best simulator, and Red Bull who called in an outside firm to do it.
Alonso commented that the Renault one was like a PS2 compared to the McLaren one when he switched teams, take of that what you will.
Tom said on 17th August 2009, 0:14
Don’t you just love loopholes?
F1Yankee said on 17th August 2009, 0:15
how is this different than other teams driving thru the streets of moscow or wherever? nothing to see, move along please.
Leaf said on 17th August 2009, 1:19
Right on F1 Yankee
Max should resign now!!! said on 17th August 2009, 0:24
WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Another one for the Cosa Nostra Scuderia!!!
bwells said on 17th August 2009, 0:39
The difference is they’re using this years car… the road shows always use last years car… :)
matt said on 17th August 2009, 0:39
The testing rules are ridiculous anyway. It really bugged me that Brawn couldn’t run Goodwood because the only car the team had available to them was the current one and could not be ‘tested’ in season. If that was not allowed, which would have served no productive purpose other than to entertain and PROMOTE, why are Ferrari allowed to drive the F60?
Patrickl said on 17th August 2009, 8:25
Brawn either wasn;t clever enough to think of the “promotion” rule or they simply didn’t want to waste the money (seeing their predicament at the time) and used a simple excuse not to come.
matt said on 17th August 2009, 11:59
They were there, they just weren’t allowed to run the cars.
Patrickl said on 17th August 2009, 12:24
OK, so they weren’t clever enough to go for the “promptional event” clause. Or they forgot (or weren’t able) to get the special tyres in time.
Ned Flanders said on 17th August 2009, 1:11
Same old Ferrari, always cheating.
But if what Leaf says above is true and the cars are limited to 60mph, he isn’t going to learn much more than he would sat stationary in the garage.
Armando666 said on 17th August 2009, 11:45
same old ferrari…
your an idiot! the guy can’t test or gain anything but time in the cockpit at the speeds he’s running…and cheating…CHEATING!…please explain to me how this is cheating?…oh wait…you can’t…why…coz you know s***…so over people with nothing factual to say and base the majority of their comments on emotion.
McPhil said on 17th August 2009, 13:28
Talk about “basing their comments on emotion…
How can you say Ned knows nothing? Do you know him? Have you met him? Do you think he started watching F1 yesterday? Please tell us. Otherwise leave.
Ned Flanders said on 17th August 2009, 18:59
Thanks McPhil. Armando… hmm.. a Ferrari fan by any chance? Presumably you haven’t read the 2nd line of my comment?
TommyB said on 17th August 2009, 15:37
It’s not cheating but yes Ferrari are always sneaky and manage to find a loop-hole
peterg said on 17th August 2009, 1:15
Storm in a tea cup, it is hardly a test. Besides, test driving or not, Badoer’s decade away from F1 “racing” will be the biggest hurdle to overcome.
He is highly experienced on the Ferrari test track but very rusty on the race track. Nobody has offered a reason as to why Badoer was chosen ahead of Gene.
Leaf said on 17th August 2009, 1:23
Maybe Badoer is retiring at the end of the year. Anything is possible. Maybe because he has been a tester for them for 10 years and its a nice thank you. Who knows? Anyhow it would be a popular thing to let Gene race the car in Spain. Again, don’t expect too much from Luca in the race.
Aaron Shearer said on 17th August 2009, 1:31
As far as I’m aware, they’re giving him the drive as he’s been a loyal test driver for them for the past 10 years. I’m happy for him, he deserves it. It cannot be easy sitting on the sidelines for all that years.
That’s Ferrari for you isn’t it, they always know how to exploit a loophole in the rules.
mp4-19b said on 17th August 2009, 3:18
I dunno for what purpose they are shooting this commercial? could it be for shell? or maybe Mubadala. I also find it very very very very strange that ferrari are not using their “own” world champion Kimi Raikkonen to promote their brand ;) after all with massa gone, he’s their number one driver. now tell me who would like to promote their brand using their test driver? that too a driver who hasn’t raced for a decade? why couldn’t they have used kimi? he’s a world champion after all. leaf has said above that the cars are limited to 100kmph, but for the ad to look really nice & appealing, cars have to reach very high speeds for the high definition motion sensor camera to have any effect. driving these f1 cars at 100kmph to shoot an ad is as good as a photoshoot of a stationary car. Knowing ferrari, i would say they are upto something & they must be monitored very closely. will this ad featuring badoer ever be released??
here’s a good ad featuring kimi
http://megavideo.com/?v=U4D8FTT5
Max should resign now!!! said on 17th August 2009, 4:27
Totally agree with you. Great post.
Aardvark said on 17th August 2009, 11:01
Maybe they want the driver to say a few words during the event.
That would be a good reason for not using Kimi.
HG said on 17th August 2009, 3:24
well maybe the main problem is with the rules writters. I don’t mean to start an FIA hate feast, but surley if you ban testing, but allow promotional videos to be shot, is it any supprise, that sooner or later someone might try it on?
al_amana said on 17th August 2009, 4:37
Good to see the Ferrari haters out in force again!!!
When Brawn found a loophole to allow them to use a double diffuser it was branded “clever” by all and sundry, including Keith. When Ferrari find a loophole to allow a replacement driver to get some “alone time”, with the car he will be trusting his life to, Ferrari are accused of cheating. Smacks of sour grapes…….
mp4-19b said on 17th August 2009, 5:07
Its a promotional ad, isn’t it? As long as they adhere to the rules no one, including keith has any problems with it. But knowing ferrari, they always seem to put their toe over the line. Teams usually use their number 1 driver for shooting ads, i’ve never seen a formula one ad featuring a test driver. supposing this ad is promoting say shell or martini, tell me who would they prefer promoting them? a world champion or a driver who’s yet to score a point in formula one? All that i’m suggesting is that,this ad must be monitored closely. Yes i know that the current ban against testing is stupid, & u gotta blame ferrari & jean todt for that.
Max should resign now!!! said on 17th August 2009, 6:17
Don’t forget Ferrari had a secret VETO so calling them cheaters is not that much of a thing.
DC said on 17th August 2009, 6:24
Yes, that is true that Ferrari is often singled out while teams like McLaren are given a free pass on this site. But in all fairness, there is no claim for neutrality here. Part of a blog’s appeal is the opinion of the writer. Blogs don’t pretend to be unbiased news sources – they are the thoughts of the writer. So we get Keith’s opinion on things like this. I don’t always agree, but his opinion is always interesting.
al_amana said on 17th August 2009, 6:33
Judging by the responses to my opinion, the inverse of the last comment and one that is perhaps applicable to F1 and Ferrari fans like myself, is that our opinions are invalid and even not that interesting?!?!
Poor me (and Ferrari) always made to be the victim in this cruel world that is Formula One……
DC said on 17th August 2009, 8:22
I’m a Ferrari fan too, by the way. ;) Coulthard was my favourite (hence the name), but Kimi has been #2 for years and has now inherited my top spot.
Fans like us are free to give our opinions in the comments, and of course Keith accepts guest writers. If someone wants to write a pro-Ferrari post, I’m sure he would take a look at it.
Blogs are a place for sharing and debating opinions. It would be no fun if all the opinions were the same.
Max should resign now!!! said on 17th August 2009, 8:40
Ferrari, victims??? good one!
sasbus said on 17th August 2009, 17:42
Definitely true! If anyone had the decency to read the Ferrari statement then much of this discussion would be vapour. But then again you have to accept this site for what it is BIASED!
Incidentally the unbiased Autosport has got the full story at: