Badoer sorry for Schumacher

Luca Badoer will make his Formula One return this weekend by stepping into the Ferrari of Felipe Massa whilst the Brazilian continues to recover at home in Brazil following his Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying crash. Badoer's thoughts this weekend will be with both Massa and Michael Schumacher, however, who was due to pilot the car until being forced to the sidelines.

With Massa on the sidelines for possibly the remainder of the season, Schumacher had been selected to come out of retirement and drive the car although it is Italian Badoer who will be the oldest driver in the field at 38 years of age. "I am very motivated to make the most of this opportunity, even if I know I am facing a tough challenge, especially during the first couple of days in Valencia," he admitted.

Luca will bring an end to the second-longest spell out of F1 for a driver by competing in the sport for the first time in almost a decade. "It will effectively be a test session for me but I will be trying my best to secure a good result," he explained, with the in-season testing ban meaning he is yet to drive the Ferrari F60 on a circuit.

"I have to say, my first thoughts when I take to the track will be for Felipe because I got a real fright when I saw his accident. I am delighted that he is making a good recovery and I hope he will be back racing as soon as possible; I have to add that - I am also thinking of Michael because, having trained with him over the last few weeks, I know how much he wanted to make this comeback and how much effort he was putting into his preparation."

Source: GP Update