(I hate to be someone who starts a 5th thread about the same topic, but in this case I feel it's necessary) I know there are at least two of you out there, probably more who just lack the bravery to face ridicule by speaking up. Regardless, can we at least admit by now that he sucks? Let's stop the charades and excuses and accept the facts for what they are. It isn't the car's fault. It isn't his lack of practice. It isn't the track's fault. And no, he isn't making progress. Finishing practice a second off the pace of the 19th position Force India and 2 seconds off the fastest group is not progress. It's revealing. Whether it's out of Tifosi-love or something else, let it go. Admitting reality will not discredit you in any way as a true fan of the Scuderia, nor will it somehow jeopardize your place in Ferrari heaven. In fact, you would be doing the team a favor by voicing your displeasure at their choice of Luca as a raceday driver since he only serves to humiliate them. When the announcers start talking about it, you know it's wrong. So, take a deep breath, swallow the red pill and cross the bridge into reality. Thank you.
Because here at FerrariChat we are all gentlemen, we'll wait sunday after the race before definitely crush the guy. In any case it's obvious he's living his last race. (I hope so) and i look forward to see what kind of clown will ferrari pick next.
I feel for the guy, but the truth is, he is a danger to himself and others on the grid. Not only is he slow, but he is making some serious mistakes out there.
Yes. Lets see what he can do this Sunday. And, if he doesn't improve, time for the Scuderia to rope the Hulk in....
As a Luca Badoer fan and the starter of the 'Luca Badoer Fans' thread allow me to chime in with my opinion. My original posts supported Luca to be allowed to have the race seat at Ferrari. It is part of his job description and given the circumstances, Ferrari owed it to him. That said he has now been given the race seat and should be expected to perform. Weekend #1 it is fair to call a learning weekend and by weekend #2 a driver should start getting into the swing of things. Given the testing ban and lack or recent race experience Luca has done ok but has not been at all spectacular. I think it is a little early to chop his head off however I think that if he does not start picking it up soon that it would be more than fair for Ferrari to consider another driver. That said I continue to be of the opinion that the comments regarding him being a danger and a menace are unfair. Without starting a war here lets accept that he is driving within 2% of the fastest car out there. By any metric that is not a huge margin. Also he is not exactly bouncing off of other cars or knocking corners off of his sled either. He is just not up to the speed of the other drivers. I as a LB fan can easily admit to that and also feel that he needs to be held accountable for his performance. Terms like 'sucks' and 'awful' are hardly a fair comment on the man. I think that it is more acceptable to say he, while being a world class driver, is lacking some performance at the Grand Prix level.
Doesn't this come down to a matter of expectation? Ferrari themselves said that LB would be treating his first outing as a race-distance test. Why would Spa be any different, especially after Valencia? Did anyone, including Ferrari, seriously believe that LB was the second coming?! Let the guy gather helpful data for what will hopefully be a competitive car next year and leave him in peace. As for saving face, well, what can Ferrari possibly do to salvage this season? I'm not even sure that putting another driver in the car for Monza will satisfy the tifosi or the Italian press, both of which are well accustomed to off years. If anything, a nod toward a promising, younger driver would at least mollify those that feel Ferrari is lacking in driver depth.
oh, c'mon! just because he is an able test driver, it doesn't make him a world class driver. you still can't see just how bad he is. also, you keep bringing up him being within 2% of the fastest driver. that bit of calculation doesn't tell the real story. i can give you percentatges all day, using certain figures to make the stat look impressive/acceptable(weight loss supplement companies are notorious for this). the story here is usually measured in tenths of a second against the field. but when the difference is measured in seconds (especially when he has a decent car), well, the driver is indeed awful.
I don't know if he can gather valuable data,he is just struggling around the track. he is too focused on not crashing into a wall to produce any serious feedback.
You folks just don't get it. Badoer is an average F1 driver. An iconic racing team like Ferrari simply CANNOT be so wrong about him. The car is just that awful, totally worthless POS. And Kimi is just so incredibly, brilliantly fast and MOTIVATED like no other driver in Ferrari history. A TEAM PLAYER who jeopardizes his life, race after race, in a substandard car for a modest amount of money that Ferrari pays him. So there.
For sure Luca is making me re-asses my opinion of Kimi. If this is the best an average F1 pilot can extract from the F60, Kimi's stock is looking pretty good right now.
Then why has he never been their first choice as a replacement? Describing his accomplishments as "OK" is very generous. If his only issues in Valencia were pace, I would be a little less critical. But he couldn't even handle the pit lane. Pick it up soon? When is that? He's 38 years old, and he's almost 2 seconds behind Grosjean who has been on the grid just as long. In a Renault. By any metric? I don't think so. The metric we use here is Formula 1. 2% in this case is 2 seconds, which in the Formula 1 metric is ENORMOUS. It's F1. Standards are a bit higher than not playing bumper cars on the track. Look, he might be the nicest guy in the world. I hope he is. My criticisms apply strictly towards his abilities as a Formula 1 driver, not as him as a man or as a person. Describing his abilities as 'World Class' are true in the sense that there are many, many race drivers around the world in his class who could trail around 2 seconds off the pace. What he's doing doesn't require anything special--it's the stuff that gets guys the boot mighty quick.
Actually, in racing that is a HUGE margin. I had a day at the track with Patrick Long and we drove my 911 back to back and I was within 2%. I can assure you that the gap between our abilities is enormous as I will not be winning LeMan any time soon. Likewise, LB does not belong on the same grid with other F1 drivers.
2% is huge in the Spec series that I run. In F1 when the top 15 are within 0.5sec and top 19 are within 1 sec, being 2secs off the pace is a CHASM....
I can remember when there was a 5% rule in F1. If driver was over 5% slower than fastest driver he could not compete. Shows you how close the times are now.
Regarding the "fan component" in this thread: Ferrari's official merchandise stand in Valencia did not carry anything with the BADoer name. That about says it all.
I disagree. As most know I'm no Massa fan and would prefer it if he wasn't driving for Ferrari. But he is no BADoer. Even at his worst, Massa was at least a midfielder. Last year we have seen him running often out in front dominating the race. So he is in the front group. Personally I rate him around 5th or 6th of the grid. BADoer is the at the end of the grid. Big difference.
FFS!, he has only been in 1 race,,,,,,,, The other Italian, "Dustan Hoffman" lookalike [Leyton House March?] sorry forgot his name, was fired from Ferrari due to poor performance [the car was actually a dog of a thing], i think he might have been pretty bad, but then again Prost said the Ferrari handled like a truck, and was also fired.... Cheers
The rule was actually 107% When that rule was in place Badoer broke 107% 5 times and wasn't allowed to race for 4 events The worst driver to break that rule was Sato with a 132% time Even Alonso broke that rule once but was allowed to race Your man Yoong broke it 3 times but was under 108%
For comparisson... Badoer was 103% outside the fastest time in q1 in Valencia and 102% in p2 yesterday.. So at least he's no Alex Yoong(based on his Ferrari stint)
