Vitaly Petrov on Thursday dealt a blow to Mugello’s ambitions to join the F1 calendar. The Russian, who drives for Caterham, said the Ferrari owned circuit in beautiful Tuscany is too dangerous for modern grand prix cars.
On Thursday, F1 teams are concluding their third consecutive day of rare in-season testing at the high speed circuit near Florence.
“I’m not sure the track is right for today’s F1 cars,” Petrov is quoted by the Ria Novosti news agency. “You get very close to the walls and it’s maybe a bit small for the cars now.”
There have also been grumbles heard in the paddock all week about the wisdom of the test.
“I wonder about the sense of having just one test session during the season,” a Mercedes engineer told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “Either we do more tests or we forget it.”
Also on Thursday, Fernando Alonso delayed Ferrari’s test programme when he ran off track with the newly upgraded F2012. He finished the morning session third fastest, behind Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) and Romain Grosjean (Lotus).
