DFW Auto Club
09-03-2009, 07:28 AM
Filed under: Motorsports (http://www.autoblog.com/category/motorsports/), Hirings/Firings/Layoffs (http://www.autoblog.com/category/hirings-firings/), Ferrari (http://www.autoblog.com/category/ferrari/)
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When Felipe Massa was taken out of commission at the Hungarian Grand Prix last month, the questions on everyone's mind was who would replace him and when he'd be back. With regards to the former, Ferrari is one of the few teams on the grid that doesn't have a junior driver development program in place. The team doesn't usually have a problem getting the best drivers, but when disaster (literally) struck, the Scuderia was left without options.
Michael Schumacher prepared to come out of retirement to fill his prodigy's seat, but his own lingering physical issues prevented that, leaving Ferrari with little choice than to promote one of its aging test drivers - finally opting for Luca Badoer (http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/12/big-schu-to-fill-ferraris-luca-badoer-hasnt-raced-in-ten-year/) after his ten-year hiatus from active racing instead of its other test driver, recent Le Mans winner Marc Gene - with less than satisfactory results. After finishing just about dead last in both of the races he's contested so far, Ferrari has admitted that it's looking at other options for the rest of the season. Giancarlo Fisichella (http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/01/ferrari-to-sign-fisichella-to-replace-badoer/) is said to be one possible Ferrari driver and could stay on in the long term to replace Badoer as test driver (http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/090901105135.shtml) as well. Robert Kubica is being touted as another, while still more reports suggest that Fernando Alonso (http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/21/report-alonso-to-move-to-ferrari-for-2010/) could bolt from Renault a bit early and take up residence with Ferrari.
If these rumors seemed at first a little odd with Massa first rumored to return by the upcoming Italian Grand Prix (http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/12/big-schu-to-fill-ferraris-luca-badoer-hasnt-raced-in-ten-year/) and then readjusted to the subsequent Brazilian Grand Prix (http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/19/f1-updates-bmw-seeks-new-buyer-fia-re-opens-selection-process/) - the home races for the team and driver respectively - it now looks like Felipe won't be back this season at all. After undergoing tests at the Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Massa is scheduled to undergo plastic surgery to repair a fractured section of skull resulting from the incident in Hungary. Tellingly, Ferrari says they're looking forward to Massa's return for the start of next season.
That's all in the short term, however, and Ferrari is keen to avoid such strategic mistakes in the future. Accidents happen, and the team needs to be prepared, so its looking into setting up a junior driver development program that would give them access to a pool of emerging talent for the future.
[Source: Ferrari via Autosport (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/78235); F1-Live (http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/090831180331.shtml)]Continue reading Ferrari weighs its options with Massa reportedly not expected back this season (http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/03/ferrari-weighs-its-options-with-massa-reportedly-not-expected-ba/)
Ferrari weighs its options with Massa reportedly not expected back this season (http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/03/ferrari-weighs-its-options-with-massa-reportedly-not-expected-ba/) originally appeared on Autoblog (http://www.autoblog.com) on Thu, 03 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
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When Felipe Massa was taken out of commission at the Hungarian Grand Prix last month, the questions on everyone's mind was who would replace him and when he'd be back. With regards to the former, Ferrari is one of the few teams on the grid that doesn't have a junior driver development program in place. The team doesn't usually have a problem getting the best drivers, but when disaster (literally) struck, the Scuderia was left without options.
Michael Schumacher prepared to come out of retirement to fill his prodigy's seat, but his own lingering physical issues prevented that, leaving Ferrari with little choice than to promote one of its aging test drivers - finally opting for Luca Badoer (http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/12/big-schu-to-fill-ferraris-luca-badoer-hasnt-raced-in-ten-year/) after his ten-year hiatus from active racing instead of its other test driver, recent Le Mans winner Marc Gene - with less than satisfactory results. After finishing just about dead last in both of the races he's contested so far, Ferrari has admitted that it's looking at other options for the rest of the season. Giancarlo Fisichella (http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/01/ferrari-to-sign-fisichella-to-replace-badoer/) is said to be one possible Ferrari driver and could stay on in the long term to replace Badoer as test driver (http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/090901105135.shtml) as well. Robert Kubica is being touted as another, while still more reports suggest that Fernando Alonso (http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/21/report-alonso-to-move-to-ferrari-for-2010/) could bolt from Renault a bit early and take up residence with Ferrari.
If these rumors seemed at first a little odd with Massa first rumored to return by the upcoming Italian Grand Prix (http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/12/big-schu-to-fill-ferraris-luca-badoer-hasnt-raced-in-ten-year/) and then readjusted to the subsequent Brazilian Grand Prix (http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/19/f1-updates-bmw-seeks-new-buyer-fia-re-opens-selection-process/) - the home races for the team and driver respectively - it now looks like Felipe won't be back this season at all. After undergoing tests at the Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Massa is scheduled to undergo plastic surgery to repair a fractured section of skull resulting from the incident in Hungary. Tellingly, Ferrari says they're looking forward to Massa's return for the start of next season.
That's all in the short term, however, and Ferrari is keen to avoid such strategic mistakes in the future. Accidents happen, and the team needs to be prepared, so its looking into setting up a junior driver development program that would give them access to a pool of emerging talent for the future.
[Source: Ferrari via Autosport (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/78235); F1-Live (http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/090831180331.shtml)]Continue reading Ferrari weighs its options with Massa reportedly not expected back this season (http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/03/ferrari-weighs-its-options-with-massa-reportedly-not-expected-ba/)
Ferrari weighs its options with Massa reportedly not expected back this season (http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/03/ferrari-weighs-its-options-with-massa-reportedly-not-expected-ba/) originally appeared on Autoblog (http://www.autoblog.com) on Thu, 03 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
Read (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/78235) | Permalink (http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/03/ferrari-weighs-its-options-with-massa-reportedly-not-expected-ba/) | Email this (http://www.autoblog.com/forward/19146991/) | Comments (http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/03/ferrari-weighs-its-options-with-massa-reportedly-not-expected-ba/#comments)http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/cOorN4vW8fxhota4q7sDox_DJnM/0/di (http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/cOorN4vW8fxhota4q7sDox_DJnM/0/da)
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