Ferrari has extended the contracts of test drivers Luca Badoer and Marc Gene. Badoer has been with the team since 1997 in the capacity of test driver, supporting the championship seasons of Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen. Even though Badoer's test mileage has diminished he clearly is a valued member of Ferrari. Marc Gene joined the Scuderia at the end of 2004. A quality tester in his own right, his on-track participation has been limited by testing restrictions and other race obligations.
Nevertheless, having these two quality test drivers will assist Ferrari for the foreseeable future as their current duo of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen have never been very strong development drivers. This will continue the necessary balance even within the restricted testing era.
2 comments:
Although at times I really wonder as to why test drivers remain test driver for such long time.
But looking at Renault performance at start of this season when they lacked Alonso last year for development I think it is a prime example as to why technical driver is needed to be testing car consistently
I do too. However, I will say that some view it as they are engineers with race suits and helmets. Also, in some cases, they get to drive the best car in the world and be a part of something special.
I definitely agree that Alonso's development skill has clearly help to elevate the performance of the car.
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