2008: Bourdais to F1, Toro Rosso?
Toro Rosso's Option on Star Champ Car Driver Expired on July 31
Scuderida Toro Rosso's contract option on Sebastien Bourdais expired on July 31. Bourdais was put on the back burner as STR successfully pursued Sebastian Vettel.
It’s unusual for a back-marker team to generate a steady stream of news in Formula 1. But for the last few weeks, since mid-July, Scuderia Toro Rosso (STR) has warranted ongoing media attention.
At last check with STR, the fire was still burning a day after the train wreck of the European Grand Prix weekend at the Nurburgring. For details, please see the Suite101 article, “Lost F1 Weekend for Toro Rosso.” (To learn about the genesis of STR’s presence in the media spotlight, please see the Suite101 article, “Liuzzi and Speed Feel F1 Heat.”)
It will take two articles on Suite101 to cover the latest at STR. The first -- titled “Toro Rosso Adds Vettel, Axes Speed” -- examined the addition of youngster Sebastian Vettel of Germany, who has taken over the race seat formerly occupied by Scott Speed. Vettel is making his STR debut at the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend.
The subject of this, the second article, is STR’s other race seat, currently occupied by Vitantonio Liuzzi. Will Sebastien Bourdais of France replace Liuzzi for 2008?
Liuzzi of Italy has scored zero points so far this season for STR. He has scored only two points in 33 career races – one point in 28 races with STR in 2006 and so far in 2007 and one point in five races with Red Bull Racing in 2005.
Bourdais is the three-time defending champion of the Champ Car World Series. After nine of 16 races this season, he leads the driver standings by 10 points.
Bourdais joined his current Champ Car team – Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing – in 2003 and made an immediate impact, winning the Rookie of the Year Award.
Prior to entering Champ Car, Bourdais spent two seasons in FIA International F3000 and won the driver championship in 2002.
As of mid-July, it was looking good for Bourdais to join STR in in the top series sponsored by the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) – Formula 1.
Bourdais impressed STR at the July 10-12 test at Spa-Francorchamps, the home of the Belgian Grand Prix. Liuzzi drove on the first day. Bourdais was the driver on the second and third days.
Bourdais’ best lap – 1:48.595 – was nearly .6 of a second better than that of Liuzzi.
Bourdais had tested previously for STR. His effort at Spa-Francorchamps drew praise from both Gerhard Berger, co-owner of STR, and team principal Franz Tost.
According to an article on the Web site F1 Live, Berger told the German magazine Auto Motor und Sport, “He has my support. He has done everything right, which is exactly what we expected of him. He has exactly the right attitude for the job.”
Tost said, “On his first attempt, he (Bourdais) was as fast as our current drivers, and he made not a single mistake.”
Shortly thereafter, STR announced that it had a contract option on Bourdais that was valid through July 31.
However, July 31 came and went and there has been no word from STR re: Bourdais. What’s up?
One must assume that STR had to put Bourdais on the back burner while it hurriedly negotiated following the European Grand Prix weekend (July 23-25) with Vettel to take Speed’s race seat. Vettel was confirmed as a race driver for STR on July 31, the day STR's contract option on Bourdais expired.
According to an article on the Web site F1 Live, Berger told news agency APA, “First things first. In the past 10 days, we have been trying very hard to secure Vettel.”
APA (Austria Press Agentur) is the national news agency of Berger’s native country.
Berger added that “energy drink Red Bull’s billionaire chief Dietrich Mateschitz led the negotiations with BWM and Vettel’s management to secure the 20-year-old rookie. ‘We absolutely wanted him.’”
So does STR still want Bourdais? The thinking here is yes.
Bourdais understands that STR was focused on Vettel. According to an article on the Web site Planet F1, Bourdais told The Tampa Tribune, “I think that (negotiations with Vettel) was enough to occupy them quite a bit. So all it says right now for us is that it doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen.”
The Tampa Tribune is a daily newspaper serving the city where Bourdais lives -- Tampa, FL.
Bourdais continued, “It (the expiration of the contract option) means that we don’t only have a door open at Toro Rosso. Now, we can try to see if there are other opportunities.”
Bourdais acknowledged that, at the moment, he has no other F1 options. “But at least now we can talk,” he said. “We’ve been working really hard at it. It (F1) is a strange and complicated world.
“As of right now, I’m trying to pursue everything I can in the F1 world, and we should have some news pretty soon. If it doesn’t come through, then yeah, NASCAR is definitely something I would be interested in.”
An article on F1 Live reported a rumor of Bourdais’ Champ Car team – Newman/Haas/Lanigan -- merging with NASCAR Nextel Cup team Robert Yates Racing and competing in NASCAR’s top series in 2008. The merger has occurred. But the deal does not include Bourdais, according to an article on the USA Today Web site.
The thinking here is that Bourdais will secure the STR race seat for 2008. If not, then he should take a test-reserve driver role in hopes of securing a race seat in F1 in the next few years.
Bourdais is 28 years old. So he is not "old" by F1 standards.
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