Ferrari F1 News

This morning, at the Fiorano Circuit, one could be forgiven for imagining that Gilles Villeneuve was back on track, when shortly after 10.30, a 312 T4 rumbled out of the pits prior to doing a few laps of the track. In fact, this was a special commemoration organised by Ferrari as a tribute to the Canadian driver who raced for the Maranello Scuderia from 1977 until he died tragically during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix on 8 May 1982. On the thirtieth anniversary of his death, his son Jacques took to the track in his memory, at the wheel of the same car with which his father won three races in 1979 and that his team-mate Jody Scheckter drove to take the Drivers’ Championship title. Taking part in the event were Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo, the Vice President Piero Ferrari, the Scuderia Ferrari drivers, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, the Managing Director, Amadeo Felisa and the engineer, Mauro Forghieri, who was Technical Director in Gilles’ day. Many fans were drawn to Maranello by the ever present memory of the courageous driver and bringing the event to life, they were joined by Villeneuve’s mechanics, his widow Joann and their daughter Melanie, who had been by his side back in those unforgettable days.
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Third and final day of testing for eleven teams today at the Mugello Circuit: Fernando Alonso was back on track for Scuderia Ferrari.

Today’s programme centred on experimenting with some new aerodynamic components introduced on the F2012, as well as a study of the behaviour of the Pirelli tyres. An off-track excursion in mid-morning caused damage to the front wing and the left front corner, which took two and a half hours to repair. By the end of the day, a total of 98 laps had been completed, the quickest in a time of 1.21.363.
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It’s a case of back to the good old days for Felipe Massa and the Scuderia, to a time when, free of regulatory restrictions, they would rack up mile after mile on the Mugello track, as they worked on developing the Formula 1 cars. Unfortunately, this Tuscan interlude is only three days long and yesterday, the first of those was run almost entirely in the rain.

However, today the sun was an almost constant companion and the drivers were able to fully enjoy the delights of this fantastic track, nestling in the hills of the Tuscan Appenines. Of the fourteen drivers on track today, Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher are the two who know it best, especially the German, having spent so many hours here at the wheel of a Formula 1 car. ...

Circuit: Mugello Circuit – 5.245 km
Driver: Felipe Massa
Car: Ferrari F2012
Weather: air temperature 14/22 °C, track temperature 15/40 °C. Cloudy at first, then sunny.

Maranello, 2nd May - Second day of testing for eleven teams today at the Mugello Circuit: Felipe Massa was on track for Scuderia Ferrari.

Today’s programme featured development of some aerodynamic components and a study of the behaviour of the Pirelli tyres. The Brazilian completed a total of 106 laps, the quickest in a time of 1.22.257.
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