Autoblog

If you think you've got what it takes to be an F1 driver, you might want to grab a flight to Jerez, Spain, on the double, as Scuderia Toro Rosso bosses Gerhard Berger and Franz Tost have just landed there to evaluate new drivers for next year. Although they're clearly happy with the performance of Sebastian Vettel, who took a landmark victory at last weekend's Italian Grand Prix, the young German driver is being called up to the Red Bull senior team, leaving a vacant seat at STR.

Among the drivers Berger and Tost are evaluating are Honda-supported on-again-off-again F1 pilot Takuma Sato and the team's own reserve driver Sebastien Buemi, who just placed sixth in the GP2 Series. However Berger, himself a ten-time grand prix winner, says they won't make a final decision until November or December. With two-time world champion Fernando Alonso's future still up in the air, BMW's Nick Heidfeld, Honda's veteran Rubens Barrichello and Renault's Nelsinho Piquet could be up for grabs next season, making for enticing prospects to fill Vettel's vacancy after the team has shown considerable promise with last weekend's performance.

[Source: F1-Live, Photo by Peter Fox/Getty]

What a tangled web we weave. Scuderia Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Vettel is one of the only drivers in Formula One who doesn't have a manager, and the rookie has no plans to change that despite an increasingly complicated entanglement of contracts between several teams now being reported in the motorsport media.

Vettel was a test driver for BMW Sauber the past two seasons before moving in to replace Scott Speed at the Red Bull b-squad last year, coming in an impressive fourth place at the Chinese Grand Prix. Reports suggest that Vettel is still contracted to both BMW and Red Bull, but that's not the end of it. Rumors are now circulating that he could be called up to Ferrari –Toro Rosso's engines supplier – next season. Although most reports are indicating Vettel could replace Felipe Massa, the more likely scenario could see Vettel move to Maranello as a third driver, sharing testing duties with Ferrari's two race drivers and acting as a back-up. Such an arrangement would be similar to the one that brought Massa to the team from Sauber, which was powered by Ferrari before BMW came into the picture. Meanwhile, Ferrari is tipped to have a clause that could put Vettel in a Ferrari in case either Raikkonen or Massa has to sit out a race this season, which in turn would leave Toro Rosso scrambling for a driver to fill Vettel's seat. If you're not thoroughly confused by now, you weren't paying attention.

[Sources: GrandPrix.com and F1-Live, Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty]

After months of speculation and denials, Red Bull chief Dietrich Mateschitz has confirmed that Scuderia Toro Rosso is up for sale. STR is the effective b-squad to Red Bull Racing, and is jointly owned by Mateschitz and former F1 driver Gerhard Berger, having purchased the perennial back-marker Minardi team in 2006.

The impetus for the sale is reportedly the new regulation banning joint development or customer cars beginning in 2010, which puts STR and its collaboration with the Red Bull main team in jeopardy. Toro Rosso made an admirable start to the season this past Sunday at the Australian Grand Prix, where four-time Champ Car champ Sebastien Bourdais finished in the points on his F1 debut after narrowly missing a fourth-place finish. If the team continues to outperform expectations, Mateschitz and Berger should have no trouble finding a buyer by 2010, until which time STR will continue its campaign under current ownership. Numerous potential buyers have been touted already, including Tony Teixeira, who already has a good relationship with engine supplier Ferrari after negotiating a similar deal for his A1GP series.

[Source: Autosport, Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty]

Scott Speed's climb through the Red Bull Young Driver's Program was a great deal more promising -- and lengthy -- than his actual Formula 1 career. As of today, the 24-year-old Californian has been replaced in his Scuderia Toro Rosso seat by former BMW test driver Sebastian Vettel. Vettel, a 20-year-old German, is highly regarded by STR half-owner Gerhard Berger, and will race in this week's Hungarian GP.

Speed's tenure has been a forgettable year-and-a-half of no results and more than a few skirmishes and crashes -- not all of which are entirely Speed's fault. Even the Red Bull cars, piloted by the much more experienced Mark Weber and David Coulthard, haven't shown too much life. The drama has been stoked by the STR team owners', Berger and Franz Tost, increasingly acidic and public comments about how displeased they are with the STR driver lineup. Things reached a nadir when, after Speed's exit from the European Grand Prix, he was physically assaulted by Tost.

Speed says he doesn't want to want to ruin his relationship with parent team Red Bull, and would work with them even if not in Formula 1 -- but he wouldn't race for STR again for any amount of money. As for the premiere motorsport category, with Speed's ouster, the record of American drivers in F1 remains, uh, nothing short of dismal.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

[Source: Daily F1]