Bourdais, Asked To Wait, Can't
Sebastien Bourdais is being asked to wait for a decision on whether or not he will be able to stay with the Toro Rosso team in Formula 1 next year by the partial team owner and director, Gerhard Berger. Bourdais has been about two tenths of a second slower than his teammate - Sebastian Vettel - since last May, and he has had a lot of bad luck, where Vettel has had a lot of good luck. Berger is saying that he is unsure what the best move is for the team next year, in terms of hiring drivers, and so he said that he would be happy to wait until after the season to make a decision.
Bourdais said that he cannot wait that long, as he has some possible jobs lined up for next year that need deciding on sooner than that. Among the speculation is a job racing for Peugeot in endurance racing, including at Le Mans, and probably in the Le Mans series.
While Bourdais has proved himself worthy of Formula 1, and has not necessarily had the respect he should have had at the team, he is right to say that he cannot wait until December for an answer from Toro Rosso. He need only look into the team's short past history to see that Berger played the same game with Scott Speed in 2006, before dumping the American driver in the summer of 2007....
Comments
Give Bourdais a break! He deserves another two years at least. Vettel may have raised the Toro Rosso bar too high. This team should remember where it was just 365 days ago. Vettel is an anomaly. His talent is obvious, so is Bourdais’. With Vettel leaving, Toro Rosso would take a step backward by dismissing Bourdais. Champ cars aren’t F1 cars, but his experience and past championships speak for themselves. Renault is said to be interested in Bourdais. How could any team let him go? Toro Rosso will pay dearly if it makes this mistake!
Bourdais is right wanting to know now if he will be kept on for next season. He has shown the potential and had a lot of bad luck this year – not least in Japan when he drove agreat race and proved himself beyond doubt. If Renault are interested it will be their gain and certainly Torro Rosso’s loss. I’ve no doubt Vettel is heading for the top and is going to be phenomenal. Torro Rosso need to remember where they would have been without Vettel. Get your act together Torro Rosso and let Bourdais know where he stands – It’s your loss if he decides he can’t wait to be told and goes anyway. There may be another, better team out there just waiting to take him on!