Ferrari Formula One driver Luca Badoer of Italy goes off the track, during qualifying session ahead the Belgium Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit , Belgium, Saturday, Aug. 29 2009. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)
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First, Ferrari is having one of its worst Formula 1 racing seasons in a decade or more, and then Felipe Massa is nearly killed last month when a suspension spring from former Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello’s car ripped into his helmet.
Ferrari driver Luca Badoer (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
The ensuing euphoria that seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher was going to fill in were quickly dampened when it became apparent that a motorcycle injury from several months back would prevent his comeback.
Now, replacement, Luca Badoer, of Italy, tanks during qualifying this weekend and starts at the back of the grid for the Belgian Grand Formula Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Speed TV coverage (click for Speed TV racecast) of the race begins at 7:30 a.m. Eastern time.
Related news: Massa to undergo more tests in the US
Badoer is ignoring press reports
According to Edmunds.com Badoer said in a statement issued by Ferrari on Thursday that he has not "read the newspapers, because I imagined I would come in for criticism after the first race. I was aware of it because the Ferrari Press Office kept me informed." So he presumably knew that racing writer Ian Parkes said: "To describe his three days behind the wheel of one of the fastest cars on the planet as an embarrassment would be an injustice as the 38-year-old's performance epitomized the first three letters of his surname.
"Badoer, whose brief Formula 1 career began in 1993 with little-known Scuderia Italia and ended in 1996 with the ill-starred Forti Corse, was the last of 17 finishers at the European Grand Prix, which Parkes noted "stretched his ignominious F1 record to 49 starts without a point."
For his part, Badoer's statement said, "I found it hard to understand all the criticism I came in for."
He added: "Valencia was very difficult for me. It combined the three worse things together: It was a new track for me; it was a street circuit, with walls just centimeters away; and I hadn't driven the car for 10 months or even raced for 10 years." But going into the Belgian Grand Prix, Badoer says: "I now know the car, which should also be a help."
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