[GTO]

Lucky Valentino Rossi drove the F2003 GA, and whats more he was just a second off Schumachers fastest time for the day. Just imagine this...first time in a Formula 1 car and you take only 20 laps to come within a second of the best driver in the world, a person who has lived with Ferrari and known the track for almost a decade now. I am sure that this is more a marketing exercise than anything else, butttttttttttt to drive the best Ferrari in the world? Dayyyyyyyyyyyyyyummmmmmmm

GTO

Motorbike superstar Valentino Rossi has tested a Ferrari at Fiorano.

The Italian, the reigning Moto GP world champion and winner of the first race of the season just last weekend, was given a chance behind the wheel of an F2003-GA on Tuesday.

According to the Gazzetta dello Sport, Rossi completed around 20 laps, setting a best time of 59.9s.

That is around three seconds slower than the lap record – set earlier this year by Michael Schumacher in an F2004 - but represents an impressive pace nonetheless.

Rossi, 25, has made no secret of his desire to try out car racing but this was the first time he had driven an F1 car.

He was a guest of Toyota’s at the Australian GP earlier this year.

Original Itv-F1 article

[Shan2nu]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (GTO @ April 23 2004,05:21)]Lucky Valentino Rossi drove the F2003 GA, and whats more he was just a second off Schumachers fastest time for the day.

Yeah it could be a marketing thing man. If that was the case Ferrari would have said good bye to Barichello. hehe

But F1 is much more than that. It's important to see if he can sustain those times over a period of 50-70 laps. Considering that MotoGP races last for a max of 25-30 laps.

Regards...
Shan2nu

[Dippy]

Amazing stuff!!! Valentino finally got to drive the F1. The King of Motogp finally got to drive the best car in F1 . This was a great marketing thing but just imagine if Rossi and Schumi raced together for the Scuderia . What racing!!!!

Cheers

[Rtech]

Well, since GTO's post of April last year, Rossi has tested with Ferrari on more than a couple of occasions, the most recent of which was last month at Fiorano. These are serious tests and not press events.

In a private test session, Rossi's best time was within 1.5sec of the lap record. That is quite a feat if you ask me, even for a track with sub 1 minute lap times. As we all know, it ain't easy to drive one of those cars fast!

But how much can we read into all this? My personal opinion is that Rossi is seriously considering a move to F1 in 2007, after his Yamaha contract is over, and he has probably won another Championship for them!

Rossi's heart has always been with cars. He originally wanted to race cars, but circumstances put him on a bike, which, as it turns out, he was quite decent at racing. During the years, Rossi has taken part in rallies (without much success) and other forms of racing, but more for fun than anything else.

But, this is different. As Rossi has already shown us with his shift from the strongest MotoGP team - Honda, to a wealer team - Yamaha, he likes a challenge. The Yamaha is now the equal of the Honda (atleast in Rossi's hands), and in 2006, it would be the same, if not better. So, there is no challenge left for Rossi. He has conquered all levels of motorcycle Grand Prix - 125cc, 250cc, 500cc & MotoGP.

I think he now wants to pull of the gretest challenge he will probably ever face - be successful at F1. BUT, is it realistic? I mean, in F1, your car is about 80% of the equation, unlike in bikes, where the rider is 80%. So, it is vital for him to have a good car if and when he does enter F1.

So, I ask 2 questions:
1. Will he make the switch?
I think yes.

2. Will he be successful?
This is hard and I don't think we can answer it now, but the odd's are against him. But, that's just the way Rossi likes it!

[sridhar24]

Rossi is very talented guy but i am not so sure he will be as successful in F1 as MotoGP because there are other young drivers in F1 like Alonso, Kimi, Button whom it will be difficult to beat.
I think it good for him to stay in MotoGP and achive much more than coming into Formula1.

[shuvc]

IMO, Schumi would not be to agreeable to Rossi coming on board, while he is around ..
Rossi is one guy who will surely not want to play second fiddle .. so that'll make two guys in the team with the same attitude ..

[Mpower]

Rossi definetly has the talent, but to jump straight into F1 is trying to bite off more than he can chew. There is a lot of pressure to perform in F1 from fans, teams and sponsors. He needs to spend a couple of years racing in smaller formulas, get more seat timeand work his way up to F1.

I would say start with British/Euro F3 then GP2 and then join F1 with a good team. If he attempts F1 and dosent do well, it will be a blow to his confidence and he may drop out after a year.

If he's really desperate, he can do FormulaFord UK-05 winter season inbetween MotoGP05 and 06 to get a taste of things.

[Deeps]

Firstly, i doubt Rossi will make the switch. But even if he does, he won't be half as successful as he has been in MotoGP.

[papps]

dont know what will happen for sure, i dont think he would switch... but if he does it would really be interesting how he would do... im sure if he does make the switch... he will have to do alot of testing befoe he signs a contract.... and im sure that will be after ferrari or any other team is happy with his performance.... so if there are any more articles of him testing a F1 car that means yeah a possibility to see Rossi in F1...

[Revvmaster]

Being fast over a track is one thing, actually winning a race is totally different. If one thought that an Alonso or a Schumi just drove the wheels off their car to win races, then he's up the wrong alley. Conserving your car, race strategies, great team work play a cruicial part in F-1.

Can Rossi still do it? Can't say, but if the man can gamble on a Yamaha and still win races despite having a relatively slower bike than the Honda RCV, it says a lot about his talent.

I say, just go get him into F-1. Kimi and Rossi in Ferrari in 07 with Schumi as Team Manager? Very much possible.

Revv

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by Revvmaster

I say, just go get him into F-1. Kimi and Rossi in Ferrari in 07 with Schumi as Team Manager? Very much possible.

Revv

If wishes were Ferraris, then yours might fly!

[Rtech]

Well, Rossi's first trial by fire and he came out looking good! In a test session with the current F1 drivers, he finished 9th ahead of drivers like DC, Webber, Wurz, Trulli and some others.

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=34967

The thing I found really funny was Webber's comments before the test saing things like Rossi is really "brave" to test alongside other F1 driver. However, he did concede that Rossi is "special"! Either ways, Webber better start getting a bit quicker if he is to continue with comments like that.

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=34951

[GTO]

Rtech appears to be particularly interested in Rossis move to F1. Already refreshed the topic twice.

Does it give you a kick to see car guys converting to bike guys and vice versa?

GTO

[Rtech]

Something like that. I guess in todays million dollar sports world, its rare to find top level sportsmen who take such big risks, that's why I am following Rossi closely.

[adya33]

Formula 1 is just Rossi's hobby