Valentino Rossi has said it is unlikely he will ever race in Formula One.
Rossi impressed with his pace in his test for Ferrari at Barcelona a fortnight ago, but he has played down speculation he will ever race in F1 at the launch of his new Yamaha MotoGP motorbike.
"I had the chance to drive the Ferrari F1 car in Barcelona,” he said, “It was great, I had fun and it was a very good test, with good lap times, but I think that it will be very difficult to see me driving in Formula One.”
Yamaha boss Davide Brivio claimed last week that Rossi was a leading contender to race for Ferrari next year should Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo’s plans for the team to run a third car come to fruition.
Brivio said at the Yamaha launch that as a Ferrari fan, he’d like to see the Italian race for Ferrari, but not at the expense of his MotoGP career.
“I have a little of a fight inside because I am a Yamaha team manager, but I am also a big Ferrari F1 fan," he said. "I would like to have two Valentino Rossis, one in Yamaha and one in Ferrari.
"Of course, I hope that he continues to race with us and remain in our team because I love to work with him. As a sportsman and as a Ferrari fan, it would be very interesting [for Rossi to race for Ferrari] but I hope he will race in motorcycles and that he will just test Ferraris from time to time."
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Re: Rossi: 'F1 switch unlikely'
I know this might sound funny, wierd even, but i don't think it's interesting enough for him, not as literally seat of the pants, to much electronic aids, not entirely controlled by the driver/rider, besides moey is not even the issue, it's pure nerve snapping excitement he craves and F1 just doesn't do it for him!