Rossi tests Ferrari at Barcelona (Pictures)

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Valentino Rossi heads out of the pits in his F2008

Valentino Rossi has finished the first day of his test in a Ferrari F1 car at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.

Because of testing restrictions Rossi cannot use a current model, so he is driving a 2008-specification Ferrari F2008 supplied by Corse Clienti and using GP2 tyres. His distinctive number 46 is emblazoned on the nose of the car.

A thunderstorm at the circuit in the morning kept him from doing any running until the afternoon when track conditions improved.

Rossi did 68 laps of the Circuit de Catalunya and set a best time of 1’25.200 in the afternoon. He said:

I’m happy. It was a good test, although it was wet in the morning and without grip I had some problems. Fortunately the dried off in the afternoon, I could use the slicks and improve my lap times.
Valentino Rossi

Rossi said last year he is not considering leaving Moto GP to race in F1 or another four-wheeled category. He is aiming to beat Giacomo Agostini’s record of 122 wins in motorbike racing. Rossi has won 103 so far, 77 in Moto GP.

Rossi last tested a Ferrari – also an F2008 – at Mugello in November 2008.

Read more: Valentino Rossi’s Ferrari test pictures (November 2008)

Image (C) Ferrari spa / Ercole Colombo

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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31 comments on “Rossi tests Ferrari at Barcelona (Pictures)”

  1. Rossi and Ferrari seems like the perfect match. It’s a shame for us that he ended up on motorbikes rather than cars, he’s exactly the sort of character that F1 needs.

    I don’t understand why Rossi doesn’t sign for the Ferrari of Moto GP, Ducati. I know they already have Stoner, but an Italian rider for an Italian team would just be amazing. I thought that while that Ferrari/ Ducati PR event was on last week, it was good as it was but with Rossi it would have been so much better!

    1. Because Ducati were so far behind on power at one stage he didn’t think they would give him a world champion for several years.

      Suddenly bridgestone got the tyres right and stoner blitzed the field.

  2. May be that’s the point.They may be wooing him to Ducati.

  3. Charles Carmichael
    20th January 2010, 11:06

    ducati suck badly…yamaha is the big team in motoGP

    1. Yamaha sucked badly before Rossi (& Burgess) joined them.

  4. Does anyone else wish we would see more helmets like Rossi’s in F1? lol

    1. No offense here but I seriously dint like his helmet. Its so messy and undefined.

      1. “I seriously dint like his helmet. Its so messy and undefined.”
        – I second that. The design is undistinguishable from a distance.

    2. I likle the top not the bottom so much but I do wish there were more original helmets regardless of what I think of their looks.

    3. I lov his helmet.

    4. i know a lot of people here have been saying, in relation to this years helmet designs, that they prefer to have a driver stick with their design and have something distinctive. I disagree, i always like the fact that rossi is coming up with such distinctive designs (not like vettels subtle re-working of a sponsors logo). I mean there was the one where he has his face n the helmet with his mouth aghast, or the donkey. It wouldn’t work so well in the closed in cockpits of F1 cars but he has such a cool personality, F1 could do with a bit of his hijinks.

  5. I would not like to see Val in F1…… why? You ask?

    Oh well, Jeremy Burges cannot help him out in F1, therefore should he try to change to a 4-wheeler, it will be a disaster for both men.

    My 2cts.

    1. Jeremy Burgess has been talking about retiring soon. He has a young family and because of the constent travel (He live in Adelaide, Australia) so he is constently traveling to Europe to the Yamaha Factory.

      But the man is a genius. Not bad for a man that started as privateer motorbike racer in Australia whose last paying job was a forklift driver.

  6. his helmet is awesome, but it is a touch too messy.

  7. Couple of questions……

    Why cant he use the 2009 car? It’s 2010 and new regs so isnt the 2009 out of date?

    Also, do the FIA regs saying he cant use a current car apply to non-super license holders?

    As the case with Briatore shows, does the FIA have the right to saction Rossi if he doesnt have a super license. Cant he use any car he wants – as long as it’s not, obviously the 2010 model, which ferrari wouldnt let him touch anyway?

    just currious and obviously havent bother to study the full FIA regs.

    Thanks

    1. The 2009 car is too similar to the 2010 cars, cf. McLaren developing the 2009 car nearly to the end of the season to learn stuff for this year’s, and Mark Webber testing a front wing at Suzuka that was never intended for the 2009 car. Since Schumacher went out in a 2007 car last year before his aborted return, there may be just a 2-year rule anyway, or maybe Ferrari won’t release any cars before 2 years have gone by.

      I think the regulations (not sure about this, mind) just say the car itself can’t be tested, to avoid any loopholes.

      I don’t think the FIA could sanction him, but they could interfere with any future attempts to gain a superlicense. Also, Ferrari would be sanctioned anyway. (I’m assuming you meant sanctioned in the sense of punishing someone).

      Hope that helps :-)

    2. Rossi does have an FIA license – he’s competed in WRC, so he has to have one. That doesn’t mean the FIA could ban him from MotoGP events, of course.

      The FIA has every right to sanction Ferrari, though – and that would presumably be an F1-related penalty.

      1. He may have an FIA licence but he needs a superlicence for which you need special dispensation or to have achieved certain levels in single-seater racing. Hence Seb Loeb couldn’t become the latest Seb in a Red Bull in Abu Dhabi. Lots of controversy in the past about them being awarded. I remember Kimi Raikonnen getting it awarded after not completing the pre-requesit number of races etc, he just had a bit of F3 under his belt. More recently see Hay-meeeeee Algusuari. (Sorry for the extended reply!)

  8. I love the way he has the 46 on the car :)

  9. absolutely beautiful car.

    1. WHAT?!? Are you serious??
      That car is ugly as hell.

  10. Is it me or does it all seem pointless?
    He doesnt want to join F1 and the car is old, with the push on cost cutting the test seems quiet irrelivent.

    1. Their money their problem

  11. Anyone else think that the old style of cars look wierd yet? First think I thought when I saw those pictures was “Wow, that engine cover doesn’t look right!”.

    1. I didn’t realise how ugly the cars had gotten until last year, when most of the rubbish was banned (although the new rear wings are still a little odd for me).

      1. They started looking a bit odd with the viking horns of the mclaren a few years back. Then the hideous engine cover/wing formed and the horrible wheel frisbees. My favorite cars were the B&H gold jordans of the 90’s. Senna’s lotus was a nice car to look at too.

  12. it seem sthat if ferrari had it thier way they would have a car on track every second of the year, is it me or does all these ferrari track days start to get a bit anoying, First schumi driving the f2007, not rossi in the f2008, it seems like they put a car on track everyday, i thought we were meant to be focused on saving money.

    no other teams are as obsesed with running old cars.

    1. but why should we worry about it. You are right that they have a lot of ‘track days’ mostly for publicity i presume. They aren’t exactly developing the 2010 car with these days. So the main issue is down to cost.
      Well i fail to see the problem with them spending their money this way. They are a private company, which at the end of the day has to balance their books. This is a naturally limiting factor to how much they will spend. If they want to take 200 people to a grand prix for catering and other miscellaneous task – let them. If they want to obsessively run old cars, for publicity and the sake of it – let them i say. People forget there is already a budget cap in place. Its called the teams budget, and each only has so much money to spend. This naturally causes decisions about ‘consumption’ or where they will spend their money.
      I fear a day where everything, from the number of people you take to the track, to CFD time is controlled by some rule.

  13. Prisoner Monkeys
    21st January 2010, 2:19

    Shark fins should be banned on the basis that they are hideous.

  14. hi valentino i want to be like u U r the only biker for

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