Luca Badoer has been testing for Ferrari forever! Why didn't they ever let him race?

Question

Luca Badoer has been testing for Ferrari forever! Why didn't they ever let him race?

Answer 1

He's one of those drivers who is very consistent but probably lacks the aggression and instinct needed to succeed in F1. He just didn't WANT it enough to keep on plugging away at the back of the grid hoping for a big break. If he'd made more of an effort to race, maybe people would see him as more than a test driver. He had the talent; a triple Italian karting champion, double Italian F3 champion, F3000 champion at the first attempt. However he was disillusioned following his introduction to F1 with Lola-Ferrari, despite beating team-leader Alboreto most of the time; his career never really recovered from that.

By the time that Schumacher had his accident in 1999, Badoer wasn't really impressing in a race driver role at Minardi. Probably blunted by three years of only test driving, he obviously wasn't producing great races - the highlight of his year was managing to stay on the track at the Nürburgring, running as high as fourth in a race of many retirements until the gearbox went...it really wasn't much of a surprise that Ferrari went for a driver (Salo) who had managed to drag uncompetitive Tyrrells and Arrows into the points on a regular basis for several seasons, rather than someone who chose to test rather than race.

Once Ferrari had overlooked him for the temp job, there was no way he was going to be considered as the permanent replacement for Irvine or Barrichello.

Now (at 37) it's almost certainly too late for him. His main chance of a drive now is hoping that Kimi comes back to his hotel drunk at 3am on the Saturday of a race weekend and breaks an ankle trying to get into the shower...there wouldn't be time to fly in another replacement, and Badoer would have a chance to qualify a Ferrari at last...

Answer 2

Because unlike McLaren who field egoistic rookie's as their No.1 driver, Ferrari fields only the BEST.

Answer 3

He's one of those Italian drivers - like Apicella or Andrea Montermini - where you wonder what went wrong. That generation of Italians just didn't seem to progress once they tried to make the step up to F1, although the fact that they generally only drove for rubbish Italian teams probably didn't help their development.

Badoer's career as a race driver went down the tubes when he got blown away by Pierluigi Martini at Minardi in 1995. After p*ssing all over Alboreto in 1993, Badoer was expected to beat Martini too...it didn't work out that way, and he was consigned to the ranks of permanent test drivers. Ferrari simply don't see him as a racer and neither does anybody else.

Answer 4

Luca Badoer was a race driver for Minardi-Ford in 1999. He only finished in 6 of the 15 races that season. His highest finish was 8th in San Marino. He has been a very steady and productive test driver for Ferrari since then, but even when Michael Schunaker was sidelined with a broken leg he did not get the race seat. They brought Mika Salo in.

I believe that he is a very good test driver because he is veryconsistant, but he just doesn't seem to quite fast enough for a race seat with a good team. Maybe he figures it is better to test for Ferrari then to fight at the back of the pack in races. Who knows he may someday get a chance with Ferrari if they need a last minute replacement for a race.

Answer 5

Charlie B, BOO BOO and Rosbif are right, think of Luca Badoer as a 1990s version of Antony Davidson, knowledgeable but not a hard racer.

Answer 6

Well, Rosbif gave the long and interesting version.

My short version is that he hasn't produced the sort of performances that would warrant a drive with Ferrari.

Likable as he may be.

Answer 7

Horses for courses he is a test Driver and not employed as a Race Driver and maybe he did not want to try to fill the boots of Micheal Schumacher.