Was Sébastien Bourdais or Jacques Villeneuve ever on the short list as Massa's temporary driver?

May be...

I might be wrong, but I doubt we'll ever see Bourdais in F1 again. I know we'll never see Villeneuve in F1 again. Not much call for an F1 driver near 40 years old, especially one who hasn't driven in years.

I have to agree with Matt, - why would you even contemplate Bourdais if you have the chance of Schumi?...it is a total no brainer - even had Bourdais covered himself with more glory than he has to date.

And as as for the testing benefits, Schumi has been on board as an advisor since his retirement from competing & so he can do just as much ( & more) than any of the other "possible" contenders to aid development of the car for the remainder of the season.

The other reason I think Schumi was first choice is his relationship with Felipe - he is Felipe's mentor & very close friend & I am willing to bet Felipe will be pleased to have his seat covered by Michael, knowing it is done with the best intent & with no hidden agenda about ousting Felipe permanently.

I imagine Bourdais couldve been the last name on the list but Ferrari wouldve likely given the ride to Gene or Badeor before Bourdais.

And i doubt Villenueve was considered. Too far removed from F1 action compared to other possible drivers.

In Budapest you are not allowed to put a replacement driver in after qualifying, apart from a few exceptions. That's why the No.3 car didn't leave the garage. Also, it would have been a pretty tall order rebuilding that car and having it set up to work well for the race, even if they had been allowed to try.

Well, I don't see why they ever would have considered Bourdais or Villeneuve when they knew they could talk the 7x world champion around. They knew as well as we did that he wanted to get back into an F1 car, and he jumped at the chance.
I reckon after MS Badoer then Gene, their TDs were on the list.

I think the short list was as short as possible, with the only name being Schu. The rules prevented Ferrari from being another driver in place of Massa at the Hungaroring.

Bourdais should have been considered, as Gene and Badoer should have. I don't think Schumacher will go very well and no championships are at stake. Bourdais has driven the current cars and is a capable development driver. The test drivers could also learn from driving the car in race trim and apply that to their test work.

We will never know the "official" short list, but I strongly suspect that the list never had more than one name on it.

It will be interesting to see if there is the same lack of consistency on the rules now as there was during MS's heyday (swerving across the track at the start of the race, etc.)

Both of these guys had experience driving Ferrari engines and could have filled in for the rest of the season if Shumacher had not stepped up. I'm not saying they would be the best choices, but am wondering if they were ever considered? Or their test drivers?

And why doesn't didn't Ferrari use any of their their test drivers to put a car out in the last race?

To understand who Ferrari might of considered, you need to consider what their requirements are. First, they have said they are not continuing to develop the 2009 car, so while bringing in a driver that can provide feedback for the future is good, it's not essential. Add to that that the reason they are not continuing to develop the car is because they are out of it, so while good driver capable of doing everything with the car is nice, it's not a requirement. Second, since they are developing the 2010 car, they most likely do not want to bring in a driver that is outside of the Ferrari family or might be with a competitor next year.

So, that leaves a list that probably was Schumacher followed by Gene. Someone might of mentioned other names, but I doubt any were or would've been considered given where Ferrari is at the moment.

Having experience "driving Ferrari engines" would hardly be much of an advantage, and certainly wouldn't have elevated a driver any in their view. Bourdais could've been a remote possibility, and I would've been interested in seeing him in a decent car that had KERS just to see what he might do. Villeneuve... well, given his total lack of pace when last he drove and an feelings between he and Schumacher (who even wwhen not driving, is still a part of Ferrari), this would've never happened.

And as has been said, Massa was set as the driver in Hungry once he started qualifying. Any replacement would need to of been made prior to that according to the rules.singapore international airlines manila