Schumacher interview, too
Rossi To Get Four Wheel Drive
Sunday February 05 2006
Valentino Rossi didn't have the ideal start in Valencia, but he showed enough talent to convince the sceptics that his future is on four wheels
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On Tuesday it wasn't looking good, was it. MotoGP star Valentino Rossi was taking part in his first F1 test that involved cars other than Ferraris and the world was about to see if he had a future in F1.
The Ferrari team were in Valencia to test the new F248 and run the new V8 in a hybrid car and they had taken the most experienced F1 driver of all time – Michael Schumacher – and a bloke who had never raced on four wheels in his life.
It was an audacious move by the Ferrari management and when Rossi spun his Ferrari on a wet Valencia track just seconds into his first lap, the omens didn't look good. The Italian motorbike star, who's won the MotoGP World Championship five times, and could win his sixth in 2006, was out of his depth in the wet.
He was in amongst the experienced wet weathermen of Barrichello, Schumacher, Button, Coulthard, Villeneuve and Montoya.
But on Wednesday the track dried out and despite a few more spins, Rossi outpaced Coulthard, Trulli and Mark Webber in his 52 laps. Perhaps more significant, was that he was only a second behind Schumacher's fastest time. On Thursday he was just 0.65 seconds behind.
Though the spec of the two Ferraris was different, the significant factor was that Rossi was getting quicker.
Another former Ferrari driver, Britain's John Surtees, is the only man to have won World Championships on two and four wheels, and he told BBC Sport the differences are not as vast as many might believe.
"Put simply, you're having to control with your right foot what you normally control with your right hand," he said. "It is a case of adapting to the techniques required with a car, but there is not a huge difference in the way the driver has to understand his vehicle.
"You're strapped in to a car and you don't have the freedom of movement you do with a bike. You can't control it by your bodyweight, you have to sense it and put it through the four wheels.
"But the basic race knowledge and craft you've learnt in two wheels can certainly be applied to four wheels."
Ferrari team leader Michael Schumacher was not surprised Valentino struggled in the wet. "That mistake was understandable," he told L'Equipe. "When a driver sets off with wet tyres they cool down straight away on the first lap and so it's easy to skid. For him it would have been like driving on ice."
The Schum was also impressed by his comeback on Wednesday and Thursday.
"He has enough talent to succeed," the seven-time F1 Champion said. "It's entirely possible for him. I'd even say it's easier to go from motorbikes to cars than the reverse."
Of course that's the easy bit to see. On a MotoGP bike the riders are shifting their weight around it on a lap, changing angles and shifting position all the time. On four wheels there's clearly none of that. Rossi himself enjoyed his Valencia experience.
"It was a very revealing test considering that, for the first time, I found myself on the track with Formula 1 drivers," he said. "I have to say that I felt at home and did not have any particular problems: perhaps I ave to practise a little in driving in the wet! As ever, the Ferrari welcome was fantastic."
"It is a very close knit group and I felt at ease with Michael, Felipe and the technicians and mechanics. I didn't come here to prove anything but to deepen my knowledge of a Formula 1 racing car and I thank Ferrari for continuing to offer me this chance."
Significantly, though, this won't be the last of his Scuderia testing. Valentino is not going to leave it there while he gets on with the business of winning MotoGP title No.6 in 2006... "There will be more tests in the coming months," Rossi admitted.
Although he's got to learn to stop spinning the car, there is now a very strong likelihood that Rossi will be starting for Ferrari in 2007. For a team that could do with some big money sponsors, the publicity he could garner for the team would be enormous.
Rossi in F1 would be good for the sport as a whole, because it could attract new fans in and give it added TV interest. And as we've mused before. Rossi's arrival could hasten the departure of Schumi himself.
Valencia's test proved to be very significant.