There seems to be two main approaches to acquiring a new driver in the Formula One ranks. Team principles either seem to go with a seasoned veteran that has dealt with almost everything that you could come up with on and off the track or opt for the eager-beaver fresh rookie that’s just waiting to explode on the scene and prove his worth.
In some way, choosing a test driver is just like that too. Take for instance last season when Felipe Massa was out for the season following the huge crash that left him unconscious. At first they went for the option of bringing back Michael Schumacher out of retirement but health reasons brought that to a halt.
Next up on the plan list was bringing in their seasoned test driver Luca Badoer, who has had a hand in developing every Ferrari racer for the last 10 years. Unfortunately, Badoer hasn’t been able to carry over his vast experience from testing into the real thing.
So finally, Maranello decided to bring in Giancarlo Fisichella to take over Badoer?Massa’s spot for the rest of the season. Following that, he was roped in to develop Ferrari’s own driver development program.
The end result is the first product of the Ferrari Driver Academy, Jules Bianchi. A former British F3 champ and third place finisher in this year’s GP2 ranks, Bianchi will join the Ferrari test driver ranks on a full-time basis together with Fisichella and Marc Gene.
Source: Autoblog
