While Saudi Arabia was
busy trying to combat its own unrest as the wave of
pro-democracy protests spreads across the region, also
in Riyadh, Felipe Massa was taking to a new track in a
day reserved for sponsor Phillip Morris.
Trying a new circuit for
the first time is always exciting for a racing driver.
And if that “first time” can also be applied to the
country he is in, with a very different culture and feel
to it from one’s own, then it becomes a truly
interesting experience. That was the case last Thursday
for Massa, who was working at the Reem International
Circuit, near Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. It came a day
before a major protest in the city and as the government
proposes a $37 billion handout to try to head of
trouble.
Massa was the main attraction at an event organised by
Philip Morris International, which involved him using
the safety of a race track to help around forty guests
experience the thrill of speed as he took them round in
an F430 Challenge. Also present along with the Brazilian
was Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal, Stefano Domenicali.
“It’s always nice to visit somewhere new and I’m just
sorry I can’t spend more time here,” said Felipe. “The
track is very interesting and fun, so I hope I get a
further opportunity to drive here. At the moment, our
work in the build up to the start of the world
championship is intense and so we have to get back to
base soon. Events and venues like these are important to
boost motor sport in countries which have only recently
embraced it,” believes Domenicali. “For Ferrari, the
Middle East is a very important market which we watch
very carefully.”
Fernando Alonso had been due to take part in this event,
but as he was very slightly under the weather, he felt
it best not to make the trip, given that he must be
ready for the upcoming Barcelona test session.
This coming week will
in fact be very important one and for Scuderia Ferrari
it even had a "prologue" yesterday. The straight at
Vairano was actually the scene of an aerodynamic test
with the newly-rechristened Ferrari 150° Italia
entrusted to Davide Rigon. The driver who hails from
Thiene, was due to have a run last Monday at Fiorano at
the wheel of an F60 and was therefore able to make his
debut yesterday at the wheel of a Ferrari F1 car: it was
a crucial experience for him, given that the majority of
his work on developing the car takes place in the
simulator and it was also recognition for the way his
career is going.
Today Alonso and Felipe Massa will be at the Catalunya
Circuit, near Barcelona, where they will be involved in
a day of filming for promotional purposes. Then, on
Wednesday, the final test session gets underway in
preparation for the F1 World Championship. On track for
the first two days will be Massa, while his team-mate
will slip into the cockpit of the 150° Italia number 5
on Friday 11 and Saturday 12.
Meanwhile the new
Ferrari F1 single-seater is onto its third name before
the grand prix season even kicks off. The news came at
the weekend, just as Ford was announcing that it was
dropping its court case over the name, via the official
website courtesy of the curious Horse Whisperer
column: "It might seem like a Kafkaesque scenario, but
the affair relating to the name of the car with which
Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa will tackle this year’s
Formula 1 World Championship saw its final and decisive
episode played out these past few days with the
concomitant withdrawal by Ford of the summons," read the
website post. "Therefore common sense has prevailed. In
order to avoid the slightest risk of anyone confusing a
Formula 1 car with a pick-up truck, for their part, the
men from Maranello have decided that the car will lose
the F that precedes the number 150 and which stands for
Ferrari, as it has done on numerous occasions when it’s
come to giving a car a code name, be it for the race
track or the road. It appears that this could have
caused so much confusion in the minds of the consumer
across the Pond that, at the same time as losing the F,
the name will be completely Italianised, replacing the
English “th” with the equivalent Italian symbol.
Therefore the name will now read as the Ferrari 150°
Italia, which should make it clear even to the thickest
of people that the name of the car is a tribute to the
anniversary of the unification of our country. Let’s
hope the matter is now definitely closed and that we can
concentrate on more serious matters, namely ensuring
that our car that already seems to be pretty good out of
the box, becomes a real winner," the Ferrari website
post concluded.
