ROME (AP) – Valentino Rossi’s Formula One tests this week have left Ferrari fans wondering if he’ll one day join the Italian team.
Rossi tested last season’s Ferrari – the F2004 – on Tuesday and Wednesday with impressive results.
"They were two intense and interesting days. I turned a lot of kilometres and began to understand how the car works," Rossi said.
Watched by Ferrari president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Rossi covered the team’s private Fiorano circuit in 58.3 seconds, not far off seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher’s track record of 55.999.
"Rossi has a standing offer from Ferrari. He is welcome to come test whenever he wants," Ferrari said. "Apparently he wanted some more testing to see how he does in an F1 car."
But Rossi could be more than a driver for the team. With his flamboyant celebrations, boyish demeanour and popularity among fans, he would be a valuable marketing tool.
In the latest Forbes Magazine list of the world’s richest athletes, Rossi tied for ninth with Lance Armstrong at $28 million US. Rossi is the second European on the list after Schumacher, who is second overall with $60 million US, trailing only Tiger Woods.
Rossi extended his MotoGP contract with Yamaha on Monday to the end of the 2006 season, a day before Ferrari announced it was replacing its second driver, Rubens Barrichello, for 2006 with Felipe Massa.
That Ferrari signed Massa only until Rossi’s Yamaha contract expires led to speculation that Rossi could move to Ferrari for 2007. Schumacher’s contract expires at the end of 2006 too.
Ex-Ferrari driver Jean Alesi was impressed by Rossi’s performance in testing.
"Fifty-eight-three in the summer, meaning in non-ideal conditions? Formidable," Alesi was quoted as saying in Thursday’s Corriere della Sera. "Valentino makes me dream and I say he has nothing to lose. Go ahead and try it. Everyone likes him, from the Italians to the Japanese."
Rossi first tested a Ferrari in April 2004. He has also competed on four wheels in a few rally races.
Toyota Formula One driver Jarno Trulli told Il Messaggerro, "If he really wants to come, we can hardly wait."
If the 26-year-old were to make the switch on a full-time basis, he could follow the path of British driver John Surtees, who won the 1964 Formula One title for Ferrari after seven motorcycling championships.
The last driver to make the move from two wheels to Formula One was Venezuela’s Johnny Cecotto, who raced in F1 in 1983 and ‘84.
Rossi would also have the chance to become the first Italian driver to win a title for Ferrari in 50 years. The last was Alberto Ascari in 1952 and ‘53.
Not everyone thinks Rossi would contend, however.
"It would be great to have Valentino in F1, but he wouldn’t have even a minimal chance of winning," Renault boss Flavio Briatore said, according to Corriere.
Six-time world champion Rossi has mastered motorcycling, a sport in which he is already considered as great as Giacomo Agostini, the Italian who won 15 titles.
Rossi’s mastery was on display most recently in Sunday’s German Grand Prix. He trailed Sete Gibernau for most of the race but passed the Spaniard on the inside of the final lap when Gibernau took a turn too wide.
"(Rossi) has a unique sense of equilibrium and knowledge of motors," Carlo Pernat, the manager of Rossi’s MotoGP rival Loris Capirossi, told Corriere. "On a motorcycle he’s as agile as a cat. On four wheels he’ll have a perfect sense of the car. He’s a pure talent, a la Cassius Clay or Maradona."
