Bourdais Gets One Step Closer To F1, Gets Berger’s Support
Written by Scott Keller · July 17, 2007
It’s no secret that three-time Champ Car World Series Champion Sebastian Bourdais is on the short list to move into a Scuderia Toro Rosso in Formula 1 next year. This week, he seems to have taken another step closer to F1.
Yahoo! Eurosport is reporting this morning that the Bourdais has won over Gerhard Berger, who has a 50% ownership stake in the Toro Rosso team. Berger has giving Bourdais high praise in the press and made it clear that he thinks Bourdais would be an excellent choice.
For Champ Car, this is both good and bad news. Bourdais is one of the best drivers in the world, and having him in the Champ Car fold has been good for the reputation of the series, which lacks a good reputation on many other levels. However, Bourdais has hardly been Champ Car’s ambassador, and tends to gripe after the rare losses that he has suffered. He hasn’t carried the mantle of Champ Car, that’s for sure. Paul Tracy, of course, carries that mantle on one should, and a chip on the other. Paul Tracy is past is prime, but you still have to like that guy.
But getting back to Sebastian. I would love to see Bourdais go to Toro Rosso. He’ll get a taste of what it’s like to run at the other end of the field, and maybe learn how to handle defeat with a little more class. Sebastian has never been truly embraced by the North American fans, but that’s because he’s never truly embraced us. He also seemed to take winning for granted, and always reacted like he was cheated if he didn’t get the win. And some fans just got bored with the one-man-show that Champ Car became for long stretches at a time. Of course, it is good to see Robert Doornbos giving Sebastian fits this year. But Doornbos isn’t the future of the series either. He’s another guy from Europe looking to make Champ Car his stepping stone.
And speaking of that, I hope that these F1 aspirants Bourdais, Rahal, and Doornbos get their rides in F1 and move on so that the young lions of the Atlantic series get their shots in coming years(I’d include Marco Andretti, but he’s on the wrong ladder to F1). Hopefully some of them will be American, and boy do I hope to see Canadian James Hinchcliffe in a Champ Car soon, too.
If and when Bourdais ends up in F1, I wish him the best. Whether you like the guy or not, he is a spectacular talent that deserves a shot at the pinnacle series.
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It will be interesting to see how he goes.Most people forget that he was signed to start with Arrows before they folded.
The irony of Red Bull being banned in France can’t be lost on him.
Don’t say you have to like Paul Tracy because alot of us don’t!!!
Tracy’s a thug — a talented, determined, gutsy, fast thug, but still a thug. Bourdais may not always be gracious during post-race interviews, but he’s always good with the fans, especially the kids — and he’s a brilliant driver. It’s about time he got this shot. I hope he embarasses the daylights out of Signore Briatorre and Renault very soon !