Sauber reiterates Fisichella Ferrari test role

Fisichella at Sauber
By pitpass.com (03/01/2004)
January 3 2004

Sauber Petronas boss Peter Sauber has once again hinted at a possible Ferrari test role for Giancarlo Fisichella. "The situation is open," he said recently. "It has not yet been discussed but in principle it is possible."

Ahead of the January 12 launch of the Swiss outfit's 2004 contender, the C23, Sauber has revealed a potential problem that could lead to both his drivers doing test work for Ferrari and Bridgestone during the course of the forthcoming season.

With four teams running Bridgestone rubber this season, the bulk of development work falls on Ferrari, which of course also has to work on developing components for its own car in addition to tyre evaluations for Bridgestone. Furthermore, due to financial constraints the Sauber outfit is unable to run a full test programme throughout the season.

Therefore it's likely that both Fisichella and Felipe Massa will be loaned to Ferrari in order that they can carry out tyre development work on behalf other the other Bridgestone shod teams. Fisichella has never made any secret of the fact that it is his dream to drive for the Maranello outfit.

"For us it is important that Ferrari does a lot of tyre testing this year," Sauber told Autosport magazine. "If they need Felipe Massa or Giancarlo, they can do it.

"We will be doing more tyre testing if it's possible," added the Swiss. "but that's the problem. We do not have the staff to do a lot of tyre testing."

Jordan and Minardi are the other two Bridgestone shod teams.

This article was written by pitpass.com and is used with permission.