Rossi eagerly anticipates F1 test

Richards: Not the right time to buy a F1 team Ferrari willing to power Honda Singapore set for a revamp De la Rosa wants F1 race-seat Gillett eager to implement his dream Donington moves a step closer to the British GP Fry confident Honda will find a buyer Teams support Mosley's call for reduced costs Mosley's letter to FOTA Max calls for more cost-cutting

Thursday 20th November 2008

Valentino Rossi is eagerly awaiting his Ferrari test, which will mark the first time the Italian drives a F1 car without traction control.

Rossi, who previously tested for Ferrari in 2006 when he was considering swapping from MotoGP, will get behind the wheel of the F2008 at Mugello later today.

"I can't wait to try the F2008 to see how much F1 cars have changed compared to my previous tests," Rossi told Autosprint.

"I will get inside and F1 without traction control for the first time. I'm very curious, I think it will take me a bigger effort to drive, even though (Felipe) Massa and (Kimi) Raikkonen this year have set times very close to the ones set with traction control. So the difference shouldn't be big.

"In 2005 I went quick: compared with equal conditions, I ran within 1.2 seconds of Schumacher's lap times. Let's say that I'll be very happy if this time I can limit the gap down to one second.

"On a track like Mugello, it wouldn't be bad at all. I just hope the weather will be good, in order to have the opportunity to do a real test, in order to evaluate how quick I can be."

Your Comments

bunns2003

"Who are u people badmouthing Rossis ambitions, haha! To be under a second would be an amazing achievement, considering he isnt a f1 driver!. lets not forget he isnt a f1 ddriver, so getting that close to the best, from such limited running will better laptimes of some people who spend years doing the same thing. I guess you guys could do better, or maaybe you could beat him on a motorbike"