Schumacher happy for Massa

Michael Schumacher is pleased that Felipe Massa will race for Ferrari next year and believes the Brazilian youngster deserves the chance to shine. Massa was test driver for the Scuderia in 2003 and will replace Rubens Barrichello for 2006.

Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher.

Photo by xpb.cc.

"I am happy for Felipe," said Schumacher. "In my view he deserves this change as he is doing a good job since quite a while now. We have seen his talent lately in F1 but also when he was test driver for us. And we have not been the only ones who were interested in him."

Schumacher has been teammates with Barrichello since 2000. "With Rubens I shared a nice time and a lot of beautiful memories. I wish him all the best in his new team," he added. It's not yet known what that new team might be for Barrichello, although he has been strongly linked with BAR recently.

Meanwhile, there was a familiar face behind the wheel of a Ferrari this week. MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi spent two days on track at Fiorano and enjoyed the experience. "I wanted to get a better understanding of a Formula One car and I would like to thank Ferrari for giving me the opportunity to do so," said Rossi.

"The two days were intensive and interesting. I completed a lot of kilometres and I began to understand the handling of the car, working with the engineers and Marc Gen?. I go back to the two wheels where there is still a long way to go to the end of the season."

It's often been speculated that Rossi might make the switch to F1 but this week he signed a new contract with Yamaha, so he will be sticking with two wheels for 2006.