Stefano Domenicalli of Ferrari confirmed that Luca Badoer will continue as Felipe Massa's replacement in Belgium, despite only finishing in 20th place at the European grand prix in Valencia.
Badoer stepped in in place of Michael Schumacher, who was unable to replace the recovering Felipe Massa because of a neck injury he suffered in a superbike test in Spain earlier in the year.
The 38-year old Italian has been a test driver for the Scuderia for 12 years, but had never raced for the team until last weekend - when he failed to meet everybody's expectations.
But Domenicalli has stated that the aim for Valencia was for Badoer to finish the race and that the Italian is yet to show his full potential.
'First of all, I think it was important for him to finish. We need to stay cool and calm and I'm sure that we've seen a Luca that has not really shown up his real potential,' Domenicalli said.
'Apart from the fact that he hasn't raced in a long time, from a psychological point of view, believe me, the pressure is worse.'
Domenicalli confirmed that Badoer will be in Massa's car next weekend at Spa, but was unable to say whether the team would keep him on for the final five races of the season.
'I think we will speak together, I think that we will discuss tonight because we want to keep up Luca, because he was a real team player and this is very important for Ferrari,' he added.
Badoer stepped in in place of Michael Schumacher, who was unable to replace the recovering Felipe Massa because of a neck injury he suffered in a superbike test in Spain earlier in the year.
The 38-year old Italian has been a test driver for the Scuderia for 12 years, but had never raced for the team until last weekend - when he failed to meet everybody's expectations.
But Domenicalli has stated that the aim for Valencia was for Badoer to finish the race and that the Italian is yet to show his full potential.
'First of all, I think it was important for him to finish. We need to stay cool and calm and I'm sure that we've seen a Luca that has not really shown up his real potential,' Domenicalli said.
'Apart from the fact that he hasn't raced in a long time, from a psychological point of view, believe me, the pressure is worse.'
Domenicalli confirmed that Badoer will be in Massa's car next weekend at Spa, but was unable to say whether the team would keep him on for the final five races of the season.
'I think we will speak together, I think that we will discuss tonight because we want to keep up Luca, because he was a real team player and this is very important for Ferrari,' he added.
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