Bourdais: Money crucial in STR decision

[John S]

Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais says Toro Rosso's line-up for the 2009 season will be decided by money as much as skill.

The four-time ChampCar champion is yet to find out if he will have a racing seat at the team with which he made his Formula One debut this season.

Toro Rosso have both seats available and they tested Japanese Takuma Sato and Swiss Sebastien Buemi this week at Barcelona alongside Bourdais.

The Frenchman, however, has denied he was part of a shoot-out between the other drivers, and reckons money, and not only talent, will decide the line-up.

"No, it's not a shoot-out," Bourdais told the official Formula One website. "I am here as a reference to the team because they know me quite well, and whatever they are trying, in the end it is mainly tyre comparison stuff, tyre usage.

"You obviously run the 2008 car with 2009 downforce, but that's far more effective than the (actual) '09 car because it is the same downforce, yes, but quite a bit less drag.

"So it will produce some quite impressive laptimes, but they have got nothing to do with the 2009 car - not yet, at least.

"So I am not here for a shoot-out. The problem is purely financial. The team needs some money and I think until they find a driver package which is fast enough and has got the funds - or they find a solution themselves - they won't find a solution for their line-up."

Bourdais signed a three-year contract with Toro Rosso, but he admits he has no guarantees he will continue at the team next year.

He also believes the line-up will not be confirmed any time soon.

"Absolutely not at all," he said when asked how sure he was to stay. "As far as I am concerned I don't see a decision being made any time soon because I don't see anybody being able to guarantee money right now, or tomorrow or the next day.

"I think it will drag on for quite some time and I am a professional driver and at some point I will need to make sure that I have a job for next year. And when the time comes I will have to make a decision."

He added: "Well, it was not a one-year contract, it was a three-year deal, obviously with options. And in the end it does not matter whether you have a three-year deal or not - there is always a line in the contract which says that if they are not happy with you they can get rid of you.

"The fact is that there is no such thing as a sure deal in racing, whether it is Formula One or any other series. As long as it works it's good for everyone and then it is all rosy, but if it doesn't work out as expected, then ciao! That's the way it is."

Bourdais said he was not very pleased with how his season went, especially after the introduction of the new car, which did not suit his driving style.

"Not very much. It was quite disappointing as far as I am concerned because obviously we had a good beginning with the STR2, where I was fairly close to Sebastian Vettel, and then with the STR3 it became a lot harder because I was facing balance issues which we really could not solve.

"So we had one happy driver and one fairly unhappy driver. The time difference was getting very big sometimes and you really don't look good and you can't really be satisfied with that.

"It has nothing to do with my teammate but everything to do with my driving style and my window of operation where I can deliver and feel confident with the car.

"This obviously was a bit easier for Sebastian and that was his big chance to be able to adapt to a car and to get the best out of it. I can do this as well with a car I am quite happy with, but if that's not the case it's getting a bit harder."

report from Autosport.com, today