Valentino Rossi was in Frame for Ferrari drive
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Valentino Rossi has revealed that he did speak to Ferrari about the possibility of racing for the team at the Italian Grand Prix.
The MotoGP champion had considered a switch to F1 with Ferrari a few years ago before committing himself to motorbikes - and was once again linked with a move as the Maranello-outfit sought a replacement for Luca Badoer as stand-in for Felipe Massa.
However, Rossi said that the lack of preparation on his neck and the limited opportunity to get mileage in the car, allied to his current title battle in motorcycle racing, meant he decided to turn his back on the idea.
"We spoke with Domenicali, but we had two big problems," he said during preparations for this weekend's MotoGP race at Misano in Italy.
"The first one is the neck, because I don't know if I would be able to finish the race with my neck. Monza is not very strong for [hard on] the neck, but anyway it still needs great effort.
"And also, because we're fighting for the [MotoGP] championship, for sure the race at Monza would be a big stress and it's better to stay in MotoGP."
Rossi said that even prior to speaking to Domenicali he had already been reluctant to take on the opportunity of an F1 race because of the lacking of available testing.
"We had already decided before, that to go into a Formula 1 race without testing the car is more risky than fun," he said. "It's not possible to arrive over there and do all the work to understand the car in just three days."
Would he have been better than Badoer? Serious question
The MotoGP champion had considered a switch to F1 with Ferrari a few years ago before committing himself to motorbikes - and was once again linked with a move as the Maranello-outfit sought a replacement for Luca Badoer as stand-in for Felipe Massa.
However, Rossi said that the lack of preparation on his neck and the limited opportunity to get mileage in the car, allied to his current title battle in motorcycle racing, meant he decided to turn his back on the idea.
"We spoke with Domenicali, but we had two big problems," he said during preparations for this weekend's MotoGP race at Misano in Italy.
"The first one is the neck, because I don't know if I would be able to finish the race with my neck. Monza is not very strong for [hard on] the neck, but anyway it still needs great effort.
"And also, because we're fighting for the [MotoGP] championship, for sure the race at Monza would be a big stress and it's better to stay in MotoGP."
Rossi said that even prior to speaking to Domenicali he had already been reluctant to take on the opportunity of an F1 race because of the lacking of available testing.
"We had already decided before, that to go into a Formula 1 race without testing the car is more risky than fun," he said. "It's not possible to arrive over there and do all the work to understand the car in just three days."
Would he have been better than Badoer? Serious question
stifler said:
More of a risk, but possibly greater rewards. I would have thought that Monza was possibly the least strain on the neck in an F1 car.
Oh I don't know, 40+ laps around the Parabolica and all that heavy braking in the chicanes. I reckon it's smart a bit by the end of the race! 
Don't think he'd be any faster than Badoer, but the PR and fanbase, it'd have gone through the roof!
308mate said:
Not as reliable a choice to bring the car home in a good position or possibly even one piece but as said, it would have been a merchandise bonanza.
Rossi will race 4 wheels at world level, of that we can be sure. I'd err on the side of WRC or DTM though before F1.
I'd go with a DTM seat. Vale's never been afraid of banging bodywork has he?Rossi will race 4 wheels at world level, of that we can be sure. I'd err on the side of WRC or DTM though before F1.
peterh2 said:
Would he even have been allowed to drive? I was under the impression you need a super licence which only gets awarded after you're deemed competent in lower series?
they can make exceptions, iirc bernie said that theyd take rossi's immense bike handling skills into consideration. Plus his presence would make them a crap load of cash.mchammer89 said:
Not sure about Badoer but I think it's fair to say he would've been slower than Fisi.
Timings from the 2006 test he did, clearly he's not too shabby1 Fernando Alonso, Renault, 1m 10.904s, 90 laps
2 Jenson Button, Honda, 1:10.907, 85 laps
3 Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:11.284, 49 laps
4 Anthony Davidson, Honda, 1:11.573, 124 laps
5 Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 1:11.649, 42 laps
6 Christian Klien, Red Bull-Ferrari, 1:11.769, 66 laps
7 Heikki Kovalainen, Renault, 1:12.011, 84 laps
8 Jacques Villeneuve, BMW-Sauber, 1:12.179, 102 laps
9 Ralf Schumacher, Toyota, 1:12.192, 82 laps
10 Alex Wurz, Williams-Cosworth, 1:12.246, 82 laps
11 Nico Rosberg, Williams-Cosworth, 1:13.313, 60 laps
12 Valentino Rossi, Ferrari, 1:12.360, 52 laps
13 Pedro de la Rosa, McLaren-Mercedes, 1:12.455, 89 laps
14 Juán Montoya, McLaren-Mercedes, 1:12.488, 58 laps
15 Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 1:12.525, 66 laps
16 Robert Kubica, BMW-Sauber, 1:12.812, 42 laps
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