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]

Super Aguri undergoing testing at Jerez

Well that didn't take long. After only two years on the grid, Super Aguri is up for sale. Unlike most of the other "new" teams that took over and rebranded themselves from previous teams, Super Aguri actually put up the bond to join the 2006 Formula One championship as an additional entry. Since then, however, the team has had difficulty putting together the enormous budget required of a modern F1 team, falling into debt to the tune of $47 million, despite getting support from Honda and running old cars.

Now, following the emergence of Force India and the confirmation of an Indian Grand Prix in two years, another Indian business consortium is looking at buying its way into the sport. The Spice Group telecommunications company, which already sponsors Indian former F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan's Team India A1GP car, is reported to be negotiating to acquire Super Aguri. Tata, which is inching closer to its acquisition of Land Rover and Jaguar (which itself once had its own F1 team), is reported to be possibly supporting the bid. The price: $1, plus the coverage of the team's debts. The deal hasn't been finalized, but would involve bringing Karthikeyan back to the grid, and leaving Aguri Suzuki in charge. Spice confirms that it is talking with Aguri and a second team. In related news, Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz has reiterated that Scuderia Toro Rosso is not for sale.

[Source: F1-Live, Photo by Denis Doyle/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]

It's a sad state of affairs when the pure talent of a racing driver isn't enough to advance his career. In the case of Sebastien Bourdais, the top teams on the F1 grid have apparently been blind to his domination in Champ Cars, as our favorite Frenchman (okay, second favorite, after Talladega Nights arch-villain Jean Girard) looks like he's headed for his fourth consecutive title in the open-wheel series.

Enter Nicholas Todt, who is out to change Bourdais' fortunes and secure him a drive for the 2008 Formula One season. The fellow Frenchman did wonders for Felipe Massa, who started out at Sauber (then powered by Ferrari), then took a test seat at Ferrari (where Nick's dad Jean is king), before moving him back to Sauber (still with Ferrari engines) to race for another season, before taking the race seat at Ferrari alongside Schumacher. Now Massa is a contender for the title.

Nicholas Todt has now signed on to manage Bourdais' racing activities in Europe. In between ChampCar races, Bourdais is driving at Le Mans for Peugeot, and has been testing for Scuderia Toro Rosso. Todt has reportedly arranged for the talented 28-year-old driver to test again for the STR, which uses engines supplied by (you guessed it) Ferrari, and the rumors are that they might have secured a race seat with the squad for next season.

Could Bourdais prove to be the next star "rookie" in F1? Time will tell, we hope, but this proven entity is no rookie. Shame he'll have to start from the back of the grid, but his apparent willingness to do so only confirms his determination.

Related post:
F1 is missing out on Sebastein Bourdais

[Source: GrandPrix.com]

Red Bull has finally confirmed the engine suppliers for both its F1 teams – Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso – for next season and beyond.

Last season, Ferrari supplied the engines to the main Red Bull team, while the second squad, Toro Rosso, was powered by engines from independent supplier Cosworth. Ferrari was hoping to power both teams for next season, and keep Red Bull Racing, with veteran drivers David Coulthard and Mark Webber already confirmed, from posing too great a challenge to the boys in red. But newly-crowned Ferrari CEO Jean Todt can't always get what he wants, as Red Bull switches to Renault power for 2007.

Toro Rosso (formerly Minardi) will become even more authentically Italian, motivated by Ferrari power for 2007 and 2008 with an option for 2009. STR is run by former Ferrari driver Gerhard Berger, but struggles to escape the back of the field. Last year the team also fielded Italian driver Tonio Liuzzi, but they've yet to announce their line-up for next season.

Had Ferrari secured deals with both Red Bull teams, their engines would be in over a third of the cars on the grid next year, including their own as well as the Spyker cars which switch from Toyota to Ferrari power for next season. Maranello already secured special dispensation from the FIA to supply engines to two teams, and that should be enough to gain extra testing data and support from the back of the field as Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa fight for the title.

[Source: GrandPrix.com]