Get silly (season)

Off week upcoming and the speculation about who's driving what, where, next year has officially begun. Silly season 2009 is on.

F1 looks like possibly having an in-season driver change for the first time since 2007. Ironically, that change involved a Sebastian at Scuderia Toro Rosso prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix and this year's looks the same. In '07 it was the German wunderkind Seb Vettel taking over from the dispatched Scott Speed, while this year it's Sebastien Bourdais (right, out in the rain at Le Mans) getting his pink slip for Spanish teenager Jaime Alguersuari.

The promotion of Alguersuari, last year's British F3 champ, is more an indictment of the current in-season testing ban than it is a "we want Jaime Alguersuari in the car"-type deal. It was only a couple weeks ago the Catalan, who just turned 19, even got the reserve role for both Red Bull teams, without ever testing. It just shows that if teams want to get their youngsters mileage they have no choice but to throw them in at the deep end on a Grand Prix weekend.

At least with five-times World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb, who had inquired about his availability for Bourdais' seat should it free up (which appears it has), has done some proper testing with Red Bull F1 last winter. He has some miles and I would venture to guess is a much more seasoned and F1 ready-driver than is Alguersuari.

He's also named Sebastien, which seems to be a requisite for a Red Bull F1 opportunity! Young Alguersuari has much to prove to himself, the team, and the F1 world in general.

Bourdais is a victim of his own success in Champ Car. He finally got the F1 gig but after a year and a half being more or less sent into the wilderness by Sebastian Vettel, then rookie Sebastien Buemi, he has had a difficult adjustment to the car and going back to Europe - even if he is by all means a nice individual and a French racing icon.

In both cases STR has not done their driver favors by looking to back one more than the other, in large part reciprocated by negative attitudes eminating from Scott and Seabass. Bourdais, assuming this deal becomes official, joins the list of CART/Champ Car champions who for one reason or another were spit out within a two-year cycle of F1.

Nelson Piquet Jr. might also be on the outs at Renault but that's no great loss; other than a name and a famous father Piquet Jr. has done nothing in F1. Really proves how cutthroat things are over there.

Elsewhere in F1 there speculation is rife over who will drive for the three new teams, where Nico Rosberg might go and most if all if Ferrari has a shakeup. Depending on the rumors Fernando Alonso either already has signed to Ferrari or will do so, while there have also been whispers young Vettel might follow Michael Schumacher to the bright lights of the Scuderia in time.

He's at the moment focused on chasing down Jenson Button for this year's title, even if it was his teammate finally earning a first victory this past weekend in Germany. Mark Webber's win in 130 starts means he has now gone the longest before breaking through, eclipsing the mark held by Rubens Barrichello (if Nick Heidfeld could ever catch a break he would beat that, but the BMW sadly hasn't a snowball's chance of winning this season).

Rubens I doubt will drive in F1 past this year. An ill-advised blow-up at the Brawn team following this race will have left his status in the team in jeopardy. Sure, he said on his Twitter page that he is "over it" but I highly doubt he's enjoying once again playing second fiddle at a Ross Brawn-run organization.


I don't think he expected Button to play the role of Michael otherwise I don't know why he would come back again. I like Rubens but it's time for someone else who hasn't been through the BS and politics of F1, who hasn't been made jaded or cynical by years of F1, to play the wingman role. Bruno Senna (left) perhaps?

***

IndyCar had a refreshing if wreck-filled race this weekend in Toronto. Oddly the race was the best part of a weekend involving a lightning strike, a city workers strike (so the stench of garbage was omnipresent) and easily reduced numbers of fans. Toronto is still very much a Champ Car town and it showed with the locals' appreciation for the sterling runs turned in by their hometown "boys," Tag and PT.

They both got robbed. Tag hit a caution at the worst time while leading and fell back - otherwise he had the race in the bag. PT hit the pits just right but was utterly screwed by a pit call that Dario Franchitti beat him to the blend line. Then the PT-Helio accident happened and I still say it was a racing incident, as PT did at the time, even if the crowd wanted Helio's head on a pike.

It's damning of the current state in IndyCar that this was only the 5th and 4th start of the season, respectively, for PT and Tag. There are rumors abounding that with Bourdais' demise he might be back in an IndyCar but I doubt he's keen on running more ovals or the current car. And considering everything PT has done to appeal to sponsors and he still only gets a handful of races, I agree with him when he says it's an outrage that Bourdais could waltze right into a seat.

A renewed PT-Seabass rivalry, with Tag also in the mix (and also Will Power, Bruno Junqueira, Buddy Rice, young Americans, et al) could do wonders to improve the entertainment aspect of the series. Sadly, I don't see it happening without money and/or ratings, neither of which is abundant in IndyCar at all.

Articles from the IndyCar weekend in Toronto (I wasn't there in person, but did from home):
http://motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=336302&FS=INDYCAR (Sunday race)
http://motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=336108&FS=INDYCAR (Saturday qualifying)
http://motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=335954&FS=INDYCAR (Friday practice)

Busy next few weeks coming up - family reunion this weekend, then at the track three of the next four weekends before school starts. Autobahn GP in Joliet, IL, massive road racing weekend in Mid-Ohio, then Road America and Elkhart Lake. So trips to three road courses, one of which (Road America) is arguably the gold standard for road racing circuits in this country.

Out for now, cheers.