Ferrari: Rossi “learns quickly”

Valentino Rossi had two days to, once again, test his skills behind the wheel of a car Ferrari (watch in video). The Italian driver covered 600 km, improving over the minutes to finish with a lap time of 1 on the Barcelona circuit. The champion of MotoGP thus comes within 230 thousandths of Kimi Räikkönen's best lap, achieved during the 2008 Spanish Grand Prix, with the same car but with suitable tires, Rossi having driven in Barcelona with GP2 tires.

« We saved the last three quarters of an hour to attempt a ?time attack? with little fuel and tires in good condition. I would have given anything for a lap time. » However, the Tavullia pilot was delighted with his time, which places him at the level of the times achieved by the pilots of Formula 1.

After his experience at Mugello at the end of 2008, Rossi was happy with these two days at Montmelo. “ It?s more fun here, because it?s simpler. Mugello requires more effort, whereas here this track is really pleasant, both for motorcycles and cars, even if I must say that turn 10 is a little tight and you have to brake too much. »

At Ferrari, the Italian driver's performance amazed Luca Baldisserri, delighted to see the MotoGP champion so competitive in an F1. “ We tried different settings and it improved a lot. This means he learns quickly and there is still room for him to improve. » Even if the possibility of introducing a third car per team in F1 is still not on the table, Ferrari knows that in Valentino Rossi there remains a driver capable of going very fast.