Sebastien Bourdais isn’t taking his dismissal by Toro Rosso lying dow – he’s threatening to launch a legal action against them. I can’t imagine it being successful, but stranger things have happened…
"I consider that, in doing so, Scuderia Toro Rosso has breached its contractual duties towards me; also I believe that nothing in my behavior would legitimate a decision of the Team to terminate the contract. I think that the Team’s decision is in clear violation of Scuderia Toro Rosso’s obligations under the agreement. I have instructed my lawyers to review the situation including the possibility of issuing legal proceedings."
Nico Rosberg: Williams, McLaren, BMW oder Brawn GP?
Rosberg could move to McLaren, BMW or Brawn in 2010. (German)
Todt will stand for FIA presidency
Jean Todt: "It is my intention to continue and expand the outstanding work of President Mosley, who for 16 years has worked tirelessly to strengthen the FIA's major motorsport championships and to position the FIA as the voice of the motoring public, actively promoting safe, clean and affordable mobility for all."
Max Mosley says he’ll stay out of FIA president’s race, will back Jean Todt as successor
Ari Vatanen: "[Mosley and Todt] are very close friends and worked very closely together when Jean was at Ferrari and Max at the FIA. But that can also turn out to be a handicap. You need a new star, you need an independent person who represents change."
Webber set to get new Red Bull deal
"Team principal Christian Horner said that talks would open soon with Webber, with the hope being that a deal can be put together to keep him alongside Sebastian Vettel in 2010."
McLaren-Mercedes: Nürburgring-Podium wäre für Hamilton drin
Norbert Haug says Mark Webber sent him an email after the race apologising for the contact with Hamilton at the start, saying it was not intentional. (German)
Brits on Pole At Large: Goodwood Festival of Speed podcast
First-ever Brits on Pole podcast, featuring yours truly!
Ferrari drivers running different front wings
"Raikkonen's car was equipped with a version that has been used for a long time – upper part of the image – while Massa had a new upper flap section."
These are links I’ve bookmarked using Delicious. You can see my Delicious profile here.
TommyB
17th July 2009, 1:18
Sue Toro Rosso for him being rubbish?
You can tell his been living in America for a long time
YeaMon
17th July 2009, 21:25
That’s quite an ignorant thing to say.
Gman
17th July 2009, 21:42
Absolutley agree YeaMon.
Hammad
17th July 2009, 1:27
2 articles in german? :S
wasiF1
17th July 2009, 2:06
Todt is not a neutral candidate as he has been with Ferrari for many years,so will it create any trouble.
Or will it help FOTA?
LewisC
17th July 2009, 3:37
Bourdais suing Toro Rosso for breach of contract is the funniest thing I’ve seen all week.
I think they could quite easily sue him on the grounds that the contract says “We’ll give you money in exchange for you driving our cars quickly” – something he hasn’t done all year. :D
TommyB
17th July 2009, 13:18
Haha top comment
sumedh
17th July 2009, 20:32
Bourdias is probably suing Toro Rosso for replacing him by a driver who is not even named Sebastian.
How illegal of the team to do that. Violation of Toro Rosso policy, I say.
DC
17th July 2009, 6:07
I don’t know what Bourdais is thinking. He is automatically excluded from ever touching an F1 car again. Who would consider employing him if he sues his old team? It is just like Scott Speed a couple of years ago – the instant he flipped out in public about his former team you knew his career was over.
It’s sad, really. I always liked Bourdais and have been watching him race for years. Now it’s back to Indy Car or sports cars for him.
gabal
17th July 2009, 6:16
I guess he is after money – there is no way they will let him drive now…
mp4-19b
17th July 2009, 7:31
he must sue his a** for not performing. get back to carting dear “sea buss” & win one more championship. i’m not saying this young unproven spanish teenager is the correct choice, but seb’s time has come. he’s had plenty of opportunity, but has blown it. muhahahaha
Dougie
17th July 2009, 10:00
I would agree that Seb’s time is up… but like any driver anywhere, and anybody here would be the same in that position, he is under contract to drive the car until year end, which he has been doing. Okay maybe not as well as he was expected to be doing, but let’s face it the car deserves to be at the back.
Anyway, the point is the contract. He has family, a livelyhood to keep, and he had a contract for the year. Now, all he is saying is, have STR breached that contract, are there early termination clauses? If not, then they are due him the remainder of his salary. Anybody with a job doing anything, you and me included, will be doing the same thing, either with Lawyers or with unions, whatever.
I doubt he’ll go back to the states, I get the impression the family want to stay in Europe and Sports Cars or Touring Cars may be the way forward now.
mp4-19b
17th July 2009, 10:35
hope he takes some advice from jean & alain.
mf
17th July 2009, 10:18
Bourdais – class act.
Give him a McLaren last year and he would have been WDC – mark my words.
Especially you, Tommy B, you sycophant.
John H
17th July 2009, 14:08
Class acts always get continuously out-qualified by a rookie.*
*note: sarcasm.
Dougie
17th July 2009, 14:31
Qualifying: Bourdais 2 Buemi 7
Fastest Lap: Bourdais 4 Buemi 5
Race: Bourdais 3 Buemi 6
Retirements: Bourdais 3 Buemi 2
Points: Bourdais 2 Buemi 3
I think his performance is respectable, but not startling, bearing in mind the crap car. There are a number of worse teammate comparisons out there, and the Rookie status means less these days than before, just ask Hamilton, Rosberg and Button from his first year.
John H
17th July 2009, 22:20
Yes, I think I went a bit too far there – he’s not been too bad, I guess after his champ car exploits people were just expecting a bit more.
Also, who knows what’s really been going on behind the scences – perhaps Bourdais could have a point.
TommyB
17th July 2009, 18:56
Class act in Champ Car maybe but not F1.
PrisonerMonkeys
17th July 2009, 11:07
Nothing in his behaviour would be legitimate to dismiss him?
So what does he call being out-qualified and out-raced by his team-mate then?
mf
17th July 2009, 12:36
That’s not really behaviour though is it?
pSynrg
17th July 2009, 12:37
Bourdais didn’t live up to his promise in F1. However clearly a great driver overall.
If Torro Rosso have acted against contractual agreements then he’s well within his rights to seek compensation!
DC
17th July 2009, 13:04
I’m sure every contract has some sort of clause where the driver can be fired – even Alonso, Hamilton, Räikkönen… Now exactly what that clause might be is undoubtedly different between each driver, based upon their skill, history, personal sponsors and the skill of their agent. But if they misbehave or don’t perform up to some standard measure, they can be fired. Hence Bourdais is up, and Piquet may be too – but Autosport is saying that he can’t be fired unless he has the same equipment as Alonso (which he evidently hasn’t had all the time.)
John H
17th July 2009, 14:04
He’s in a job. He’s not performing. He got the sack.
Sounds simple to me. DC is right, surely every driver has a clause in there.
Bourdais has done his chances of a drive next year (6 extra seats) no good whatsover. Very silly.
lionfan99
17th July 2009, 16:13
Even if he has a legitimate legal reason to sue STR, he should not have gone about issuing a press release stating his intentions. Just let thank the team for the oppportunity publicly and keep your mouth shut while your lawyers go tangle with the team’s in the background.
Dougie
17th July 2009, 18:01
This I have to agree with, good point lionfan99
Filipe
17th July 2009, 20:44
I agree. It’s worth to point out that STR own release was also much less friendly than expected pretty much blaming the driver and throwing him under the bus. None of us have details, but what looked like would be a friendly affair (at least as far as this thing can be) must have become pretty ugly in the earlier days of the week.
Wesley
17th July 2009, 23:07
hear…hear lionfan99.
No need to burn bridges…nor,sling mud at the team who gave you the chance at the top of motor racing.
I still say he would have performed well if he wasn’t driving that dog of a car but,I suppose he will never get that chance.
James Brickles
17th July 2009, 23:24
“Sebastien Bourdais isn’t taking his dismissal by Toro Rosso lying dow”
Surely, you mean down? ;)
James Brickles
17th July 2009, 23:29
And back on topic here, In the years that I’ve known F1 (Season reviews from 1989), I’ve never seen a driver suing his own team for sacking him.
If Bourdais’ case is unsuccessful, he’ll probably return to America to race in the IndyCar series.
Michel S.
18th July 2009, 3:23
Verstappen sued Arrows for replacing him with Frentzen, I thought? I can’t recall a driver suing for being replaced during the season, though.
db
18th July 2009, 3:54
there are many different dimensions to being a successful driver; andretti/piquet for example were technical wizards .. senna would raise his concentration to ungodly levels .. prost/schumacher could measure risk (a slippery goddess indeed) in real-time .. helio castroneves can galvanize an entire organization .. mansell would will the car to victory .. etc etc etc.
the only distinguishing thing i saw out of bourdais was a lack of charisma. the difference between what he promised and what he delivered (example: he predicted better performance when f1 got back to slick tires .. only to be beaten by an even greener teammate) remained consistently large. all i can say is that a driver with his experience should know better than to appear confused and deluded to the racing public. oops, i forgot about rubens.
The Limit
18th July 2009, 4:15
Its sad to see any driver’s career in F1 come to an end, but the least Bourdais can do is leave the sport with some shred of dignity. I suspect that there may well be more to this story than meets the eye, and that this decision to drop Bourdais was not only due to a lack of performance.
As for the comments bad mouthing Champcar, I find this amusing. We are all racing fans, all petrolheads, and to win four championships in any top racing series demands a certain amount of respect.
It just goes to show how difficult it is for a racing driver to transcend between series, and be successful in them all. Mario Andretti for example, achieved success in everything he competed in, as have a host of others.
As for taking legal action, pointless! About as good an idea as trying to nail jelly to a wall, it just won’t stick.
The one story I find real interesting is the one involving Nico Rosberg. I have always felt that Rosberg would gravitate towards McLaren, even after it was
announced that Kovalainen had been awarded the drive
instead. Its just far too cosy, considering his
friendship with Lewis Hamilton and the fact that he is German, driving a Mercedes Benz.
Bosley
19th July 2009, 10:47
A bit early to say why SB took this course of action(s), perhaps STR wasn’t planning on honouring their part of the contract and this is merely a way to make STR ‘aware’ of their obligations. It happens all the time in the corporate world, so I don’t understand why people here are so surprised. Also, perhaps he doesn’t intend to continue F1 and as such the burning bridges thing is kind-of a non-problem for him, he still is a great driver very well capable of touring cars etc.
Just wait a bit longer before passing the final judgement on him.