Valentino Rossi shares Michael Schumacher story from Ferrari garage

MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi has recalled an encounter with Michael Schumacher when testing for Ferrari in the mid-2000s.

The nine-time Motorcycle champion has tested F1 machinery multiple times over the years.

His most infamous outing for the Scuderia was at Valencia in 2006.

The Italian’s performance was so impressive that it led to suggestions that he could have switched to F1 from MotoGP.

Rossi ultimately remained in MotoGP, adding two more titles to his collection in the subsequent years.

In an interview with Italian publication Corriere della Sera, Rossi opened up about meeting Schumacher and how he was “paranoid” ahead of the encounter. 

Rossi revealed that he had backed Jacques Villeneuve, most likely for the 1997 F1 world championship, given that the Canadian went head-to-head with Schumacher for the title.

“I have wonderful memories of Schumi,” he said. 

“It was known that years before I had bet on Jacques Villeneuve, therefore against him.

“So, when we found ourselves in the garage I was a bit paranoid. 

"Now he looks at me and thinks, here he is the idiot... Instead, he was very kind, he gave me a lot of advice. A great guy.”

Rossi’s infamous Ferrari F1 test

Rossi enjoyed several F1 tests for Ferrari, mostly for the love of it, without any ambition of making the switch to two wheels.

He first experienced F1 machinery in 2004 and even wore one of Schumacher’s spare helmets.

12 months later, Rossi was handed another run-out, this time in a shakedown at Fiorano.

However, his 2006 test was his most impressive, and it led to Ferrari president Luca di Montezemelo’s suggestion that the team would field Rossi in a third car if the rules allowed it.

During the 2006 outing at Valencia, Rossi was just 0.7s off Schumacher’s lap time, but some caveats apply, though. 

Rossi drove a modified version of the 2004 car with a de-tuned V10 engine, whereas Schumacher was in the new F248F1 (2006) car, which ran with a V8 engine.

Rossi still impressed Ferrari, with claims later made that he could have potentially driven in F1.

One possibility was driving with minnows Minardi to gain experience before moving up the grid to Ferrari.

Rossi would get another chance to test for Ferrari in 2008, driving the car which narrowly missed out on the F1 drivers’ championship to Lewis Hamilton.

This time, it was “a chance to celebrate the success of a friend and a team”.