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F1: Berger Putting Chips On Bourdais
Written by: RACER Staff   http://www.racer.com
08/14/2007 - 07:00 PM
London, UK
 
Owner Berger and team principal Franz Tost pushed hard to get Bourdais and Sebastian Vettel to replace Tonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed. (LAT Photo) ยป More Photos

Sebastien Bourdais may be a soon-to-be quadruple Champ Car champion but the European press and fans, scalded by past Champ Car-to-F1 failed experiments such as Michael Andretti's, Alex Zanardi's and Cristiano da Matta's, still don't know what to expect from the Frenchman.

According to Scuderia Toro Rosso co-owner Gerhard Berger, the man who pushed hardest for Bourdais' hiring, they can expect plenty.

"At the end of the day, to win championships you need a certain mentality," the Austrian told Autosport magazine. "It doesn't matter what formula you are in, you have quick guys who never win anything and other guys who are always winning at the end of the day championships. That is a very important thing and this [Bourdais] definitely has.

"When I see the last weekend (at Elkhart Lake) he was 1.5 seconds quicker on pole! At the end of the day he is fast. He has showed everything, every sign he has showed, that
he should be quick."

Berger also detailed his reasons to choose the Frenchman.

"It was a bit early for Toro Rosso to get one of the quick guys like Alonso and Hamilton. And at the end of the day the driver is becoming more and more important, especially next year with traction control gone.

"We thought it wise to look at a young one, but not just young ones, one with a bit of race experience. So we had to look at others, some of the others with potential, and not yet in F1. And the only one was Bourdais."



Stay on top of the ever-changing face of sports car racing each month in RACER. Peter Brock relates how Audi and Peugeot's diesel duel at Le Mans is changing the technical landscape in our September issue, on sale now.