Young charger impresses Ferrari

[John S]

 Are we looking at a rookie teamate for Ferd at Ferrari in 2010, and will Alonso be able to stand the heat?

 report from F1-live

Fastest of the young-guns in the Ferrari test was Mirko Bortolotti, he was so rapid in the F2008 he beat the experienced tester's best.
 
The top three finishers in this year's Italian F3 series this week made their fF1 test debuts at Ferrari's local Fiorano circuit.

In a joint initiative of the Maranello-based team and the Italian governing body ACI-CSAI, Mirko Bortolotti, Edoardo Piscopo and Salvatore Cicatelli all got turns at the wheel of the constructors' championship-winning F2008 on Wednesday.

F3 champion Bortolotti, who is just 18, achieved the extraordinary feat of beating the fully competitive benchmark lap time - just over 59 seconds - set by regular Ferrari test driver Andrea Bertolini.  
 


"I was able to get comfortable very quickly," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport, "because this car keeps giving you confidence.

"At the end I captured the record, so it could not have gone better," he added.

Piscopo's best lap was a 1:00.3, while Cicatelli's best was a 1:01.2 after 33 laps.

Source: GMM
© CAPSIS International  

[Steven Roy]

This looks like another example of Ferrari returning to their roots.  New driver drives car and the Fiorano track record drops.  Do they seriously expect us to believe that some kid from F3 beat the lap record in his first day in an F1 car?  In November?  It is insane or he is faster than Villeneuve, Senna or anyone else who ever sat in a car.