Five-time World Rally champion to test for Red Bull this month
Forget about Lewis and F1 for a minute - let’s hear it for the awesomely talented and massively underappreciated Seb Loeb, who clinched his fifth World Rally title - in a row! - at the weekend.
Loeb is one of the best drivers in the world, no question, so it will be interesting to see where he goes from here. Red Bull, which now sponsors his Citroen rally team, have offered the Frenchman a test in one of their F1 cars - it’s apparently a reward for him winning the WRC this season. The test will take place later this month, at the Circuit de Catalunya. Before that, Loeb will have a brief run at Silverstone.
Although Loeb claims he has no interest in switching from rallying to F1, and has already confirmed that he will defend his title for Citroen in 2009, we’d love to see how he would get on racing alongside Lewis, Kimi and co. After all, he is just about the most successful current driver in any code of motorsport. But at 34, it’s probably too late for him to make the switch.
Shame. We think he’d do a great job in F1, even if he’s not used to the dark arts of overtaking. How do you think he’d cope with the transition?
Gridcrasher bonus! Watch Loeb test in a Renault F1 car in 2007:
Yet again the pole sitter won in Spain, a damning indictment of a track that allows almost zero overtaking. Put yourself in Bernie Ecclestone’s tiny, handmade leather shoes – would you scratch the Spanish GP from next season’s F1 calendar? Vote below:
Grid Crasher rounds up the key stories from testing in Spain
Day One (Monday): Ferrari’s Felipe Massa set the fastest pace at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya on day one of the four-day F1 test session. Nine teams were in action, each fielding a single car, with the majority evaluating new components and aerodynamic packages ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. [Official F1 site]
Day Two (Tuesday): Force India driver Vitantonio Liuzzi hailed Bridgestone’s slick tyres as “amazing” after testing with them for the first time yesterday. The Italian test driver was also working with a 2009 aero configuration, with less downforce in his car. [Autosport]
