Fisichella takes a seat in his new Ferrari cockpit

Italian Luca Badoer has backed his replacement Giancarlo Fisichella to succeed at Ferrari.

After two poor results as stand-in for the injured Felipe Massa, test driver Badoer was replaced by his fellow Italian for the rest of the season.

"Giancarlo is a quick driver. I am happy for him," he said.

"He has achieved his dream of driving a Ferrari, and he will do better than me because he has been racing for years in F1 and knows the 2009 cars well."

Badoer was promoted as Massa's replacement when Michael Schumacher abandoned comeback plans because of neck trouble.

But he had a torrid time, qualifying and crossing the finishing line last in both his two races - the European and Belgium Grands Prix at the end of August.

Ferrari lost patience with the 38-year-old and last week replaced him with Force India's Fisichella.

Fisichella signed off with Force India by clinching their first F1 points in finishing second to new Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen in Belgium last time out.

606: DEBATE How will Fisichella fare at Ferrari?

A ban on testing during the season did not help Badoer, who had not started a grand prix for nearly a decade before making his comeback in Valencia on 23 August.

However, Badoer refuses to be bitter, saying: "I realised my dream. I will always be able to tell my kids I raced two races for Ferrari, Maranello had faith in me.

"I only have one regret - from the third grand prix I would have done better.

"There was no agreement on how many races I would do. I thought I had time to improve. And these rules stop a reserve driver from testing and make him a victim - it happens only in Formula One."

However, Badoer did have some harsh words for the way he was treated by the press, blaming the media for Ferrari's decision to replace him.

"Those who write don't understand how much harm they can cause," he added. "The media played a fundamental role in the decision to replace me."

Fisichella has been named as Ferrari's reserve driver for 2010 but Badoer says he wants to remain as the team's tester.

"My intention is to stay. I am finished with races but my relationship with Ferrari continues," he said.

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