The 2005 Wroom event is underway and it was Luca Badoer who opened the round of appointments. Wroom traditionally marks the start of the season for Ferrari and is held on the snow at Dolomiti del Brenta. For journalists it is a chance to meet the stars before the season gets going.

At his press conference, Badoer wanted to underline his satisfaction at the two-year extension of his contract.

"I signed a contract up to the year 2006 as a test driver, as a third driver with Ferrari. So as well as the seven seasons so far, I’m going to do two more. Two more seasons will mean nine. I think that nine is going to be an important number for me. I don’t think that anyone, to date, has done seven years as a test driver and I will do nine, so I think that for me that’s something that is extremely nice and extremely important.

"I’m proud of this because it means that the situation is agreeable for both parties involved and so I’m sure that it has been useful for both to extend the contract for two more years, even if I have done seven already.

"The situation within Ferrari is optimal, it’s a big family, I get on well with all the people on the technical but also the human side, so I’m very happy to say that I’ve signed up to the year 2006 and hope that in these next two years we are going to get just as many victories and reap just as much success as we have until now."

The car you’ve tested is more than just a hybrid car, so what can you tell us about the 2005 car?

"Well, for a month we have been testing with this car in 2005 configuration and just after the summer break, we started actively to test some solutions and now we’re totally using the 2005 version. We were testing that in November and December. Honestly, once all the components come together, with the final tyres, with the final aerodynamics of the new car, I’m sure that the performance is going to be inferior in comparison to last year.
 

"I don’t think this performance is going to be much slower but if you want to put it into times, I think it will be about a second and a half slower, so cars are going to be 1.5s, maybe 2.0s at the most slower, as against last year. Not much will be necessary to adjust to this new solution.

"The cars haven’t changed that much, also because when a car is well balanced, in reality you don’t feel much that you have less downforce. The car is lighter, of course, it is a bit more critical to drive in some corners but overall, as far as driving is concerned, not much is going to change.

"What is going to change is the strategy for the race because of course Grands Prix have to be tackled with just one set of tyres, so that means the strategy is going to be different as against what we’ve seen in the past, but apart from that, I don’t see any major difference."

This year there is something new in that you have a colleague with whom you drove in 1999 at Minardi, Marc Gene. How are you getting on with him?

"Very well. I raced with him during the 1999 season at Minardi so I knew him already, and already in 1999 we established a very good relationship which we have maintained throughout the years, even though we didn’t see one another much, so really it is a pleasure for me to find him in the team with me.

"Apart from this good relationship, this friendship, I consider him a very good driver and it’s exactly what Ferrari needs due to the heavy workload we are expecting for the next year."