Ferrari, Mercedes take to the streets of Rotterdam 22 Aug 2011
The Ferrari and Mercedes Formula One teams both had cars in action over the weekend at Rotterdam City Racing in the Netherlands. The annual motorsport festival, in its sixth year, took place in the middle of the Dutch city along a curved route between the Willemsbrug Bridge and the Hofplein square.
It was Ferrari’s first appearance at the event, which features cars and drivers from a wide variety of race series, and the Scuderia’s Spanish test driver Marc Gene was present to put last year’s F10 through its paces. Some light damage to the rear suspension sustained during the show meant Gene also got to sample the team’s 2009 vintage F60, much to the delight of the 500,000-plus crowd.
“To take part in this event, as requested by our sponsor Santander, means that this was the first time in Rotterdam both for me and for the Ferrari Formula One car,” Gene told the press.
“Compared to my previous experiences this is the longest track that I have ever seen at a road show - and also the most twisty: usually at this kind of event you see long straights which you drive down in both directions, but here the layout of the track reminds you of a real circuit and allows you to really test out the speed and braking areas.
“So I must pass on my compliments to the city of Rotterdam and to the organisers of the event, who knew how to design such an interesting circuit on these streets that are normally reserved for city traffic, thus offering the fans the chance to see a Formula One car in real live action.”
Mercedes brought along GP2 star Sam Bird to pilot their Formula One machine. The 24-year-old Briton is no stranger to F1 power, having tested with the German team at the Abu Dhabi young drivers’ session last November.
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