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Toro Bashing

• Bourdais Is Good Enough To Get A Drive

  With only one race left in the 2008 season attention is now moving to next year’s championship. The 09 grid has been forming rapidly of late with 6 spaces remaining open, but in actual reality only 3 spaces are wide open for next year. The two Toro Rosso seats and the second Renault drive. Surely now Alonso will remain with Renault after winning 2 races this season. Honda’s hope of attracting the Spaniard to the team for next season has a very little chance of actually coming true and should instead just resign Button & Barrichello. However other possibilities for these open seats range from Aryton Senna’s son Bruno Senna to Renault’s test driver Lucas Di Grassi, who has said "There is a good possibility” that he will be in F1 next year. Another possibility could see Barrichello and or Piquet moving to Toro Rosso, but one driver we at F1-Fans feels deserve a drive next year and is currently without one is Sebastien Bourdais.
  
  He has proven this season, despite having some serious bad luck and poor race results that were not of his making, he deserves a race seat next season. Fair enough he has been well a truly out stripped in points this year by his younger team-mate Sebastian Vettel, but if it weren’t for a few occasions it could have been a very different result in the standings.
  
  The Belgium Grand Prix looked as though it was going to be a career best finish for Bourdais and a podium to boot; until a chaotic last lap saw 4 cars pass him, leaving him relegated to dismal 7th place. At the Japanese Grand Prix more controversially Bourdais finished ahead of his younger team-mate in 6th place, but had his points unjustly stripped from him after a 25 second time penalty was added for what only the stewards see as blocking Felipe Massa.
  
  The Italian Grand Prix was another race result that got away from him without it being his fault. A magnificent qualifying result saw the Frenchman line up P4, but a problem with the gear selector on his STR3 stalled his car on the grid. “I couldn't put it in first gear, then when I dropped the clutch the car stalled, that never happens because of the anti-stall, but this time it did”, explained Bourdais. The Frenchman had one of the fastest cars on the track that day and without that problem a podium finish alongside Vettel looked a certainty. 
  
  A chance for him to drive the second Renault seems to have been ruled out when Flavio Briatore said that the 29 year old was “too old”, which to be honest is about a solid enough a reason as freshly made maple syrup! It would make sense on the other hand for him to remain at Toro Rosso, as he is already familiar with the car and team, as well as its development. He would give the team a sense of cohesion going into next season and he is a lot safer and better than Piquet, Liuzzi or Sato, who seem to be the only other options the team have. However Rosso seems to be in no hurry to decide on their drivers for next year.

  • Date: 12:00am Tue, 28^th October 2008
  • By: Lloyd
  • Section: Toro Bashing