Formula One news

Jaguar didn't want Klien to race

Klien has crashed out of the last two GPs

Jaguar Managing Director David Pitchforth has indicated his team may have made a mistake in signing rookie Christian Klien as a race driver in 2004, instead of as a test driver.

Klien's seat at Jaguar was clinched by the financial backing the young Austrian brought from Red Bull. Pitchforth revealed that Jaguar originally wanted to take Klien on only as test driver.

"We lobbied Red Bull very hard to make Christian the test driver and put someone more experienced in the race seat," Pitchforth told Motorsport News. "They now admit that was the better move."

Jaguar's goal at the start of the season was to finish sixth in the constructors' championship - the Ford-owned outfit currently lies ninth. The low standing is widely believed to open the door for lead driver Mark Webber to leave the outfit courtesy of a performance clause in his contract - in order to take up a race seat at Williams.

It seems that two seats could be up for grabs at Milton Keynes in 2005...

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