Gene': "Nice to be back with Ferrari on a real track"

After many days spent between the simulator and the Vairano straight, where he carried out aerodynamic tests, Marc Gené made his return behind the wheel of a Formula 1 on a real track. The test driver for the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, who this year has divided his time on two other fronts, that of a driver for Peugeot in the Prototype category and that of a commentator on the Formula 1 races for Sky Italia, said he was happy to have had this opportunity right on my home circuit: "It's a pleasure to be able to taste the thrill of driving the Ferrari on this track again. I worked a lot with this car in Vairano but, obviously, a test like this is something completely different thing. I don't have many kilometers available because we have to keep in mind that we are quite close to the limit of 30.000 allowed by the regulations for the whole of 2008 but it's still nice to be able to be here."

However, the car is not exactly the same compared to the aerodynamic tests: "True, we have removed the wing appendages as much as possible, trying to reproduce the overall aerodynamic load that we will have next year but, above all, the biggest innovation is the tires slick. I haven't made a direct comparison but the first sensation is that the grip that comes from the new tires greatly compensates for the load loss resulting from the reduction in aerodynamics. Personally, I'm working on the set-up of the car to try to understand its behavior in correlation with these tires while Luca is dedicating himself to reliability tests, in particular on the engine, which from next year will see its life extended by 50%."