Struggling Badoer aims to make Q2

Date published : 28 Aug 2009 - 19:14:39

Ferrari substitute Luca Badoer is aiming to make it to the second knockout stage of qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, despite trailing the rest of the field by nearly a second in Friday practice.The Italian, who is standing in for the injured Felipe Massa, is under pressure to improve his performance after an uncompetitive return to Formula 1 at Valencia last weekend.He showed some signs of progress in practice at Spa, finishing the morning session in 10th place (albeit last of those who completed dry runs) and gradually stepping up his pace in the afternoon.But at the end of the second 90-minute session he remained anchored to the bottom of the timing charts, 1.9s slower than his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who was third fastest. In the wet this morning I was reasonably happy with my performance, even if I would have preferred to have run all the time in the dry, to increase my understanding of the car, said Badoer. In the afternoon, we made some modifications to the set-up, but I still haven't managed to find the ideal settings for my driving style so I didn't have the right feeling for the car to attack all the corners. We still have a session available to us to work on the car tomorrow morning. My aim for qualifying is very simple: to make the cut at the end of Q1. Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali said Badoer was making progress and simply needed more dry-weather mileage to boost his confidence. In 20th place, Luca has made a step forward compared to Valencia, showing that what he needs most is to do more kilometres on track, he said. This morning's rain definitely did not help him, even if he was more competitive in these conditions than in the afternoon. We expect to see him continue to improve throughout the weekend.