French newspapers report that Bourdais will be axed after the Nuerburgring. He was on shaky ground for this season to begin with (Vettel drove circles around him last year), but was still kept because they couldn't find anybody else. Now even Buemi makes him look bad.
Sure does. 4 time "World" champion. Then again, nothing new really: The Michael Andretti/Mansell swap was all anybody ever needed to see the big picture.
he he Bourdais is better in sportscars so maybe he'll be in one of the two Peugeots at Petit in September. Carol
He came in 2nd at Le Mans, didn't he? I like the guy and hate to see him leave, but he was in over his head.
I think pretty much any driver who tries to get up to speed with an F1 car in competition is on a hiding to nothing. Its a challenge even for the young guns who have a thousand miles driving them in testing under their belts. He never really stood a chance, imo. He was certainly never going to push it up the grid. I suspect his choice as a driver had more to do with gathering sponsorship and selling the team than much else.
Since Phil Hill I can't think of a single American who really was a threat. That was long before I was born. I don't get it. We are the wealthiest nation, have more cars than any where else, love sports but can't spawn a good open wheel race driver. It seems all we can do is drive in circles.
Yup...the guy really is good in Sports Car; that's what is in his blood (he was born not far from Le Mans.) One would think that he would be happier driving in a series that where he is more competitive. I was going to say F1 isn't for every driver, but I suppose it's the other way around.
In the US Circle racing is pretty much where the interest is, it started long go, first with Horse racing on dirt circles then when the car came along horses were replaced. You mention racing here to anyone, reply is NASCAR.
So this got me thinking. Top racing drivers are good, period. Whether you're looking at LeMans, F1, or even CART. Which makes me believe that the extra 'x' factor in F1 is the mental application. I mean, the IRL is crap, but there are a lot of good drivers. Tony Kanaan is twice the man of half the F1 grid. It's my belief that the difference lies between the ears, emotionally speaking.
Yes he did. He did a fantastic job in the 908 at Sebring this year really racing against Allan in the R15. Peugeot made a big mistake taking Bourdais out and putting Montagny in for the final stint, I think they might have beaten Audi if they hadn't done that and as I recall, Bourdais was within his alloted time spent in the car so time wouldn't have been the issue. Maybe Gil de Ferran will run two Indy cars next year and perhaps Bourdais could be a teammate to Scott Dixon. Or maybe Duncan Dayton will run two Indy cars and he could be a teammate to Scott Sharp (assuming David doesn't do IRL). Here's another thought if Bourdais leaves after this race - the LMS race the end of the month at the Algarve has one LMP1 (LNT Zytek listed with only one driver) and one LMP2 listed with only one driver (Team Barzi-Epsilon)- both needing a second driver added to the line-up. There's a total of 43 entries for the race (down about 6 from Spa). Or he could be listed with Puegeot for Petit Le Mans and Laguna Seca. . . I really think the racing door wouldn't be closed for him. Carol
This has perplexed me as well. But if you think about it, for years we didn't have a real presence in cycling either (apart from a couple obvious superstars) and this year's Tour de France has a LOT of American talent now. Same thing with soccer. We're finally fielding some talent there as well. Seems there's a lot of interest in F1 among the under 30 Americans now. I've got to think that in the next 10 years we'll see a few American kids rise up via karting and formula as others do.
Well, I can name five other aussi drivers who matched Mark Webber in australian open wheeler racing. Of them three went to europe. One returned for a lucrative career in V8 Stupidcars after one F3 season. The other two stayed longer but eventually the lack of home country sponsorship, cultural differences, bashing their heads against a brick wall brought them back to Oz and a better deal. Only Mark had the single-minded dedication to gamble all and fight against the odds, slowly learn all the circuits and eventually get a break from Paul Stoddard. Had Paul not existed Mark might not have got that initial foot in the door. Its no different for US drivers. Hell, even Phil Hill had to buy a Ferrari and win with it before he got a chance from Enzo. Don't wonder why they don't make it. Wonder how any ever do. Its a lot easier if theres your home near Silverstone or Spa.
I guess you missed the shock when Jeff Gordan, Jimmie Johnson, and Colin Edwards won the Nations Cup in 2002. On dirt. In buggies and rallye cars. Jeff Gordon even won a heat against WRC champion Sebastien Loeb ... in rallye cars. (And it seems that just about every year since, the first heat has put the NASCAR drivers up against Schumi. ) From an F1 perspective, the nations perceived as having "no drivers" are all odd ones: US, Japan, Australia. But all of these nations have well developed (and well paying) racing at home. No need to live out of a suitcase to go racing. Race on Sunday, and put the kids to bed on Monday. Is it that these countries have no drivers, or that their drivers don't have all that much need for F1?
I have a theory on this: In holland, we have few roads with actual turns in it (like USA). The rest of the roads are straight and go on forever and are 1 complete utter traffic jam (like the USA). Holland also has very few race tracks with any turns (Like the USA, which is filled with 1/4 strips). Holland has very few good open wheel drivers. The USA has very few good open wheel drivers. Then take a look at our northern neighbours (scandinavia & canada). Better drivers. Then look at our southern neighbours (southern europe & south america). Better drivers. We're just unfortunately placed on the world.
According to Bourdais just now, he IS staying as he has a contract. Doubt the contract is worth much. Brandon Hartley, his replacement, is worth so much more!
The other rumour is that the teams recently named reserve driver Jaime Alguersuari will soon be named as the replacement.
Looks like Sea Bas is getting sick and tired of all of this crap and the media attention. Perhaps it motivate him to haul some butt this weekend. http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/090710121931.shtml
I don't know much about that cat accept that he is 19, Spanish and drove in the ROC last year. Is he ready for the Big Show?
