 Luca Badoer is the
official Ferrari test driver. Luca was born in Montebelluna, Italy on January the 25th
1971. Luca started out in Kart racing and in 1985 where he won the Italian Karting
Championship. In 1989 Luca made is debut in F3 and he won his first race in the series in
1990.1992 saw Luca debut in F3000, Badoer won the International Championship courtesy of 4
race wins and he also took 5 pole positions on his way to the title.
In 1993 Luca Badoer made his debut in Formula One racing for the Lola Ferrari team. 1994
Luca took the role as the official Minardi test driver. In 1995 he was promoted to drive
for the Minardi team and went on to drive for Forti in 1996.
Since 1997 Luca Badoer has been the official test driver for Scuderia Ferrari, his love
for the prancing horse had never diminished even after the hurt he suffered after missing
out on the drive of his life due to Schumacher's accident in 1999. The drive went to Mika
Salo and although Luca was upset he still loves to test for the Ferrari team. His role as
test driver is to assist the team and the two main driver's in preparing and developing
the racing car, this work is not easy and the days are long, but Badoer loves it and he is
a valuable person to the Ferrari team.
"He runs so slow because he thinks too much to the girls...! Luca is a golden guy,
and his responsibilities inside the team are huge. His work is of invaluable help to the
two official drivers" Jean Todt speaking about Luca.
Luca comes from the small town of Montebelluna, set in the hilly region near to Venice, he
is shy and is always very politely spoken. Luca remains calm and seems to be able to shut
out the crazy going on in the world of Formula One. To drive for the Scuderia is every
Italian's dream, and Luca has the next best thing. But would Luca rather test for Ferrari
or drive for a team such as fellow countryman Giancarlo Fisichella?
"Ferrari is the top and Fisi is a very good driver. Maybe he was lucky to have
Briatore behind him but my only regret is that I didn't have a real chance to drive an
highly performing car. Lola, Minardi, Forti, Minardi..... And now Ferrari! Yes. I miss the
excitement of the GP, the race, the smells, the spectators...the highlights...but I'm
proud to be useful to Ferrari and even more, to have the chance to learn from a great
champion like Michael. I must confess that my biggest joy would be to win a GP, even I
would be happy to collect only one point..."
Badoer almost realised his dream to race in a red car when he was placed on standby to
drive in the final two races of the 2001 season in place of Michael Schumacher, sadly for
Badoer and all his many fans this dream was not realised and once more his commitment to
the team would prove a valuable asset as they prepared to defend the titles in 2002.
Badoer's invaluable work for the Scuderia continued through the 2002 season as the team
itself set new records Badoer was as usual mainly found pounding around Fiorano as he
developed the chassis. Badoer seems set to remain at Ferrari until the end of his career
and this was more or less confirmed when he was offered the test role for life by the
team.Testing remained the main duties for Badoer in 2003, joined by
Felipe Massa who took on the bulk of the tyre testing Badoer was free to
develop the F2003-GA. Such is his understanding of the team and the
respect they have for him Badoer was given a lot of responsibility and
he did not fail to deliver. The GA won the titles for Ferrari and Badoer
was once again very much a part of another Ferrari championship.
Badoer was once again used to the maximum in 2004 as the F2004 showed
great promise and with the tyre testing work done by Badoer and the test
team it made success certain for the Ferrari team, once again Badoer was
the unsung hero of another double championship winning year for the
Ferrari team. |
