Trouble at Toro-Rosso

[waynes]

bye bye scott mate, its been emotional

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=40208

Sebastian Vettel will leave BMW Sauber to replace Scott Speed in a race seat at Scuderia Toro Rosso with immediate effect, it was announced on Tuesday.

The 20-year-old German has been released from his third driver contract by BMW and will take American driver Speed's seat for the remainder of the current season.

Vettel, who became F1's youngest point-scorer when he stood in for Robert Kubica at the US Grand Prix, has been backed by STR owners Red Bull since the age of 12 and had been linked to a drive at the team.

BMW boss Mario Theissen announced that the German carmaker would not block the move as it did not want to harm the young star's development.

“As our test and reserve driver Sebastian has carried out sterling work for us,” Theissen said.

“When he stood in for Robert Kubica in the USA Grand Prix he made history by becoming the youngest debutant to earn a world championship point.

“However, the current testing rules mean that he barely gets a chance to drive for us.

“Now he has been offered the opportunity to get inside a Toro Rosso cockpit.

“We have sponsored and coached Sebastian over a number of years.

“To place obstacles in his career path now would go against our concept of talent promotion.”

Theissen added that Vettel's strong Red Bull links made the decision straightforward.

“BMW and Red Bull have a longstanding partnership in supporting Sebastian," he added.

"Toro Rosso is the sister team of Red Bull Racing, and in that context it makes sense for us to release him.

"In a sponsoring partnership the main thing is to use the best opportunities that present themselves to a young driver at any given time.”

More to follow shortly...

[whiplash]

Good move replacing Speed with vettel I felt he was always in the frame for the seat next season he will now get the chance to build with the team ready for next season .

[waynes]

Good move replacing Speed with vettel I felt he was always in the frame for the seat next season he will now get the chance to build with the team ready for next season .

just like Kubica did for BMW

[countersteer]

Or... it could be the kiss of death for a promising career. Talk about throwing the kid in at the deep end!!!

slow car... disfunctional team...

Who will drive next to hime next year? Not Bourdais I hope... Sebastian's good but he'll need time to find his way. Vettel may very well lose his way without someone to show him.

If I was Dieter (?), I'd be darn tempted to split up the old hands at Red Bull and send one down to the junior team for "driver development" while sending one of the junior's up to Red Bull.

DC would be good at it. He would command and demand respect from Berger and Tost. But I'd hate to stick him in the back of the grid with his ongoing talent.

Just my $0.02.
Rob

[checkered]

So, Vettel heads for

STR, with high compliments from Theissen, who also makes references to their driver development programme.

I wonder, is there an opening for a wider deal here? Now, given that at least publicly next season's engine suppliers for some teams remain unresolved, wouldn't it be neat if STR got BMW engines from 2008 onwards? I'm sure Berger and Tost would approve, and I can't see Mateschitz having very many reasons to object either. Of course a deal won't possibly be without complications; Red Bull's relationship with Sauber seemed to deteriorate after 2001. At the time Dr. Helmut Marko, Red Bull's F1 adviser, is said to have objected strongly against the hiring of Kimi Raikkonen. And Peter Sauber, who possibly went against Marko's wishes, still has a capacity with BMW Sauber team.

Anyway, from a deal between BMW and STR it would rather neatly follow that - while Aguri continues with Honda, Williams with Toyota, and RBR with Renault - Ferrari continued with Spyker (to whom they have also, if I remember it correctly, agreed to supply engines for their production cars under certain conditions) and Prodrive (Richards has been tight lipped about their project) would find themselves between McLaren Mercedes and a hard place. Anyway, BMW would in a sense have the "first come, first serve" advantage in the engine roulette by aligning with STR, who despite their troubles are better established than the remaining options (Spyker and Prodrive). I'd certainly give it some thought.

Too bad about Scott, though, I couldn't tell whether he still remains within the Red Bull program or not by the information available. I hope he lands a drive soon. F1 is so-so in the best of days for any driver (and a testing deal with the current rules isn't what it used to be, as illustrated by Vettel rather driving for STR than testing for BMW Sauber), but given that Doornbos ("Bobby D", nowadays) is making a big impression with the reincarnated ChampCar Minardi, Speed might find himself fighting for wins there in no time at all. Now let's see how Sebastian, who reminds me of Jeremy Clarkson in a strange way, does against Liuzzi and others.

[allan]

I think STR did the right thing by firing Speed.. However Luizzi isn't any better.. He's heading to the same end!It's just a matter of when

[Tom]

I can't see BMW supplying the same engines to STR as they use, but instead might offer them 'development' engines, basically to test ideas without risking reliability to their main team.

I saw Robert on Sunday night, it was quite a stunning race in that Doornbos, in a Minardi, qualified 15th, lost his nose cone in a sudden stop incident at the turn 1 hairpin, pitted for a new one and somehow managed to win the race...on a street circuit!

Perhaps Scottscott has a future after all...

[mx_tifoso]

Let's hope Speed does have a future in motorsport.

He probably would do well in ChampCar. And not only would that be a good option besides F1, but he would be in his home country. It would be a lot more comfortable for him as well.

Thats if he doesnt get a race seat with another F1 team soon. He could end up as a test/reserve drive for another team next year. Klien lost his race seat last year but ended up with a test position at Honda for '08. And seeing how Prodrive will be racing next season, Speed just might fit in as a test/reserve driver for them, if a race seat is not available.

Poor Vettel as well, if he stays at STR/RBR for too long his career may be tainted. It will have the same affect as having lead weights strapped to your feet while trying to swim.

[ginsu]

gosh, Americans lose the USGP and then the only American driver within the same month, that's pretty depressing.

i don't know if it's f1's fault or americans fault. i think the way we ignore global sporting events is pretty shameful, but there is still a huge market here just waiting to be tapped. i think it's retarded to say that china, india, and singapore are better markets, only a fraction of the people have the income that sponsors need in order to sell their products. i think bernie's expansion into Asia is going to bust, they don't have any chinese drivers anyway so it's all kind of pointless.

you guys in europe don't know how bad it is being an f1 fan in America, and it looks like it's getting worse.

[checkered]

gosh, Americans lose the USGP and then the only American driver within the same month, that's pretty depressing.

i don't know if it's f1's fault or americans fault. i think the way we ignore global sporting events is pretty shameful, but there is still a huge market here just waiting to be tapped.

...

you guys in europe don't know how bad it is being an f1 fan in America, and it looks like it's getting worse.

Too bad, since besides Honda's poor form, losing the USGP makes it even more unlikely that Marco Andretti would consider F1. American motorsports have traditionally been pretty international ... whatever has gone wrong recently is hardly something that can be solely pinned on Americans, though.

Open wheelers do seem to have trouble "connecting" in the US on a general level, but I think it's better if US Formula enthusiasts and motorsport pros go on to find their own way - if you come up with something original, it'll contribute way more to racing in general than copying whatever "Europeans" or whomever are doing already. That doesn't mean there should be no co-operation, of course. If you want a recent take from a "notable European" on the current US open wheel racing, here's John Barnard's (If you don't know him, look him up, I quoted him from this Gordon Kirby article ) ...

The cars are all the same, aren't they? I don't know any time in the history of racing where that has worked. Everybody says, 'Oh, if they were all in the same car, all on the same tire, all with the same engine, then we would see who the drivers are.' But that just doesn't do it, does it? It just doesn't work. The driver has to be involved in the set-up of the car, in the technical side of it. That's what it's all about, surely. The best drivers are those who do the best job technically. That's where they find an advantage. That's where the real test of the driver's ability lays.

I hope you don't get picked on for being a Formula 1 fan though!

[ginsu]

I think the fact that Americans start their own forms of sport is what has kept us from participating in global competition. We have the Super Bowl, the farce that is the 'World Series' (should be called North American Cup, or something), and, of course, NASCAR, Champ Car and Indy.

The problem with all of these is that we don't see how we slot in with the rest of the world. It's almost as if we only compete with each other because we want to make sure an American wins. Well, of course, that's ridiculous, and it should change. I think the problem is that politics does influence sporting events (not that I think it should), and generally American politicians don't deal well with other countries (besides the UK), and it's not surprising that we end up ignoring each other.

I know that many Americans would love F1 if there was a great American F1 driver and a great GP every year. I guess we'll just have to wait it out. It'd be a damn shame if Marco doesn't get a drive with Honda, though.

[checkered]

Tost denies grabbing Speed by the neck

Meanwhile, also Liuzzi's seat might be in a bit of a danger as STR could want to give Bourdais a go. F1's race weekends don't clash with those of ChampCar (mostly) ... only it might be hard to appraise two new drivers against each other rather than a known element.

[Belatti]

I think the fact that Americans start their own forms of sport is what has kept us from participating in global competition. We have the Super Bowl, the farce that is the 'World Series' (should be called North American Cup, or something), and, of course, NASCAR, Champ Car and Indy.

The problem with all of these is that we don't see how we slot in with the rest of the world. It's almost as if we only compete with each other because we want to make sure an American wins. Well, of course, that's ridiculous, and it should change. I think the problem is that politics does influence sporting events (not that I think it should), and generally American politicians don't deal well with other countries (besides the UK), and it's not surprising that we end up ignoring each other.

I know that many Americans would love F1 if there was a great American F1 driver and a great GP every year. I guess we'll just have to wait it out. It'd be a damn shame if Marco doesn't get a drive with Honda, though.

I love to know there is at least one American with common sense! [please take this with some sense of humour]
And, believe me, its at least to me (and I think a lot of "non americans", too) difficult to understand your concept of sport:
1) Football (Soccer) is minimized and americans use to say its a sport for girls, wich believe me, its not, my broken knee will tell you so!
2) American football (i dont understand it, I prefer Rugby) is just and only for American public
3) NBA has different rules than FIBA (in Basketball)
4) The generalized concept of car racing is: A)oval tracks, without rain and 150 pace car entrances (I get sleepy and tons of comercials make me angry watching nascar or indy) B)1/4mile 8000HP and 100litres fuel consuption dragsters, 5 seconds of fun and 30 minutes waiting for the next act...

[Carlos]

Belatti - What could be more delightful than watching 2 teams of girls play soccer?

At a professional level of the sport; of course.

[West]

Mark Coleman was the 2000 PRIDE Grand Prix champion... Heath Herring was a contender for the PRIDE Heavyweight title. Dan Henderson is the PRIDE Middleweight and Welterweight Champion.

In the UFC, you have Americans as the Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight champions...

So it looks like we like to fight...