Not that long ago Christian Klien packed up his bags and said bye bye to his testing job in Honda. These are his words:

“I will look everywhere to get back into a race seat again. The places at Honda are occupied and a further year as a test driver brings nothing. One year testing is useful but it is not a permanent solution.

There are very many open places but, first of all, everyone has to wait and see what Fernando decided to do – and that could be two or three weeks away. But, I know I want to go racing again!”

The mention of Fernando Alonso in this quote is clear indication that Mr. Klien said this sometime between Alonso’s departure from McLaren and his signing for Renault. In other words, not that long ago a test driver job was nothing for Christian Klien.

And then all of a sudden BMW Sauber announces signing up Christian Klien as their test and reserve driver and Estonian Marko Asmer as a second junior test driver.

What caused this sudden change ? Short memory ? The snub from Force India ? The threat of the military service (by the way, will Austrian military still insist he reports for duty ?) Or realization that getting out the F1 circus now may mean getting out for good ?

Congratulations to Marko Asmer ! ( Here is the link to photos from 2007 Macau F3 race, with some photos of Asmer, but also other youngsters with fresh F1 test jobs - Hulkenberg and Grosjean. )

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The latest media buzz suggest that the scenario that appeared here at F1Wolf earlier may materialize.

It is rumoured that as expected Giancarlo Fisichella will be announced as a Force India race drivers alongside Adrian Sutil. Vitantonio Liuzzi is set to join the team as a 3rd driver. Liuzzi said earlier that he would be happy with test driver role in Force India for 2008, unlike Christian Klien. This Liuzzi’s attitude may be what may save his F1 career…

We may not have to wait for too long to find out what the selection really will be. Force India announcement is expected this week, perhaps on January 11.

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The contest for the Force India race drive is getting hotter. Not that drivers can now do much about the selection (or do they ?) but nevertheless they all talk a lot. Here is the summary of what the leading contenders for the Force India seat Ralf Schumacher, Giancarlo Fisichella, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Christian Klien and Roldan Rodriguez had to say:

Ralf Schumacher:

“I’m testing today because Vijay Mallya asked me to try the car. This way I can give the team some feedback and tell them what might need to be changed. I don’t see myself as a candidate though to race with the team next season. To be honest, I don’t exactly know what I will be doing next season. Maybe I will quit racing, or maybe I will just join another racing series. I just want to do what’s best for me. This week might have been the final outing for me in a Formula 1 car.”

Giancarlo Fisichella

“I can bring a lot of experience and ideas of how we can go in the right direction. I think I did a good job with the team in the couple of days testing. We were working in a few areas and we made a step forward, especially in the car balance and the set up. The team was quite impressed with the job I did so far. I am impressed about the team, which is still a small one, but they have a good potential. I still know a few mechanics from when I drove here in 1997, 2002 and 2003 (as Jordan). I feel a good atmosphere and it was good to be back with them. Force India is working on a nice project, with a better budget then last year and they can go up very quickly, so we’ll see. We’ll see if we’re both happy to work together in the future.”

and…

“My objective is to race with Force India. I wouldn’t have gone through a shoot-out otherwise, because it’s always something very tense. All the drivers at Jerez were there for that, let’s not kid ourselves. Even Ralf Schumacher arrived two days earlier, went often around the track to see the trajectories and he was in contact with the pits. He never did that at Toyota. No one came to Jerez to be a tourist of for a stroll in F1.”

Read the rest of this entry »

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What has been rumoured has been confirmed. Giancarlo Fisichella and Ralf Schumacher will test with Force India next week.

What does this mean ?

a) Fisichella has very likely been shipped out of Renault
b) McLaren did not answer Ralf’s calls

Liuzzi and Klien have extra competition, it remains to be seen if Vijay Mallya is looking for some experience he may use during car development or for young aggressive drivers.

Fisichella, Ralf Schumacher, Liuzzi and Klien will also share the Force India cars with Franck Montagny, Roldan Rodriguez and Giedo van der Garde.

Adrian Sutil can continue his holidays

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