Auto Racing

» joesf16 - Will Bourdais be successful in F1?

Jeremy, hello. I am new on Suite 101. Even though your post dates back to December 2006, I think it's a valid question now and would like to share my thoughts.

Seems to me it's a Catch 22 for Bourdais. Looks like he is set to take a race seat for next season in F1 at Scuderia Toro Rosso. We'll know soon as the contract option STR has on Bourdais runs out at the end of July (2007).

The car has been poor this season. The seamless gearbox has been a recurring problem. (Maybe STR could have better spent the money it invested in the seamless gearbox?) So even if Bourdais represents a driver upgrade over Scott Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi, he won't score points on a regular basis unless the car is improved. How could this happen? Seems the only way will be if Nicholas Todt is successful in turning STR into Ferrari's B team. But that's no guarantee either.

If Bourdais decides to stay in Champ Car for 2008, which now seems to be a remote possibility, the question is what does he have left to gain there. I think the answer is nothing even if he does not win a fourth consecutive driver championship this season.

-- posted by joesf16