iSport's Ferrari writer Maharshi Vaishnav shares his disappointment on Luca Badoer's selection ahead of Marc Gene. He also gives his perspective on the Italian teams chances in Valencia.
NO! I don’t hate Italians and I am not against Luca Badoer. But I am terribly surprised and tad disappointed at Ferrari’s jingoism and choice of Felipe Massa’s replacement for Valencia and till such time that Massa returns.
Here’s why…
- Since making his F1 debut with Scuderia Italia way back in 1993, Badoer has always driven for Italian teams i.e. Minardi, Forti Corse and now Ferrari.
- Badoer holds the rather ignominious distinction of being the driver who has competed in most grand prix (48 to be precise) without scoring a single World Championship point.
- Badoer also failed to qualify on 6 occasions. These 6 failed attempts include the European and Monaco GPs in 1993 and the Australian, European, Spanish and British GPs in 1996. 4 times in a single season?? That’s a startling equation considering that 120% off the pole sitter in the heydays of 12 laps Saturday stunners was not very difficult.
- Badoer will also officially become the oldest driver at 38 years in this year's Championship when he lines up on the grid at the European GP.
The Schumi redux saga ended before it even began. So what were Ferrari gonna do? Well, either they could have relied on their reserve test drivers i.e. Luca Badoer / Marc Gene or gone for a fresh face.
At this juncture where they any ways are struggling to gain at best 3rd place in the championship, I feel Gene could have been a better choice not just because he has a better track record (when compared with Badoer) but I feel he is more suited for a pressure situation. Having raced for the BMW Williams F1 teams amongst others till as recent as 2004, Gene would bring in a much needed racing acumen and pragmatism that Ferrari badly need at this stage.
The other Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen suddenly finds himself under the spotlight with Massa’s absence and Schumi’s withdrawal. All rumors about Raikkonen being replaced by Alonso or Vettel seem to have taken a back seat as Ferrari pin their hopes on Raikkonen.
While Massa – the Schumi protégé was the team’s favorite, his absence has obviously raised the bar for Raikkonen. He is hoping to continue with the form that landed him the podium in Hungary. This podium was crucial for Ferrari as for the first time this season; they overtook Toyota to the much cherished 3rd position in the championship.
He is also tremendously bullish about Ferrari’s chances at Valencia, another street circuit that was added to the F1 circus in 2008 with Massa winning the inaugural race. Valencia is a typical street circuit designed by Hermann Tilke with tight corners and almost zero overtaking opportunities. Nonetheless, Ferrari, this year have demonstrated that they relish the challenge of a street circuit.
Raikkonen was candid enough when he confessed: “the 3rd place in the Constructors' Championship is the team's realistic goal for the final part of the season. For myself I hope to win at least one race, after a third place in Monaco and a second at Budapest.
We're racing on a city circuit at Valencia, but with very different characteristics compared to the others. This year we did quite well on tracks like this, just look at Melbourne - where I could have finished on the podium - Monaco and Budapest. Last year I didn't end the race at Valencia caused by an engine failure. So this year I want to return and gain a place on the podium.”
With the F1 fraternity is expected to wake up from their mid-season hibernation in full glory at Valencia, Ferrari are in a tight spot. They cannot afford to slip up as any position below the 3rd in the championship will be unacceptable for the Fiat Management as well as the tifosis. With Massa’s injury and Badoer’s surprise inclusion, we are in for a spectacular final stage of the championship.
While concluding, I want to give Badoer some benefit of doubt. He is Ferrari’s longest – serving test driver ever having tested various Ferrari variants for over a decade and having completed more laps in a Ferrari than any other driver in the world.
However, neither the competition nor the ardent tifosis are keen to exchange any niceties or give him any leeway.
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Kunal Shah
said:
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... Oh Luca is already 3 secs off! Christ! Whatta disaster!! FIAT - Failure in Italian!! |
Srikanth
said:
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... no doubt badoer is not good, gene has even tested the latest spec of the car!! i doubt its jingoism though.....if they were so patriotic they wudve had a better national young driverr programme.....how many italians have driven for ferrari in the recent years anyway? the reason is somethng else im sure..... |
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