From GMM

Multiple and current MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi came within two seconds of a fully competitive lap time when on Thursday he tested Ferrari's 2008 F1 single seater.

It is no longer suggested that the 29-year-old Yamaha rider is contemplating a switch to the four-wheeled category, but he did remark on Thursday that he believes he could have been "a good F1 driver".

At Mugello in the morning, Rossi's best lap - at the wheel of a car adorned with his famous number 46 - was just under 1min 24 seconds, but he improved to 1min 22.5 in the afternoon.

Ferrari's current race drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen have posted laps in the 1min 21s with a similar configuration to the F2008 machine.

Rossi, who will run at the Italian circuit again on Friday, said before the test that he wants to get within a second of the proper pace.

"With a lot of work I could have become a good F1 driver.

"It is hard to say if I would have become a winner or not, but the potential was there," he told reporters, in the company of Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali.

Rossi, wearing a F1-standard helmet painted in his famous colours, was watched on by his father Graziano and Yamaha team boss Davide Brivio.