Formula One news

Bourdais keeping his fingers crossed

It will be the end of an era, when Sebastien Bourdais leaves Champ Car and becomes a Formula 1 driver. The paddock will have a keen eye on the Frenchman, as he is one of the biggest Champ Car stars ever to have made the jump to Europe. It is, however, hard to say if he will make a big impression in the Toro Rosso. Bourdais doesn't worry too much, he just wants to drive in Fomula 1.

Speaking to GPUpdate.net, Bourdais says he isn't that big a star in the States. "You need to put things in perspective", he said. "Champ Car is nowhere near as big as IRL or NASCAR. I'm known by the racing fans and in the racing community, but I don't have the exposition of a Jeff Gordon or a Jimmy Stewart, Everybody knows them."

Bourdais also said there is no point in worrying about next year. There have been Champ Car stars, like Juan Pablo Montoya and Jacques Villeneuve, who have made a big impression in the Formula 1 paddock, but guys like Michael Andretti and Alex Zanardi just didn't seem to get it together. For Bourdais, it's still too early to say. "You will always be judged on your results", he said. "I don't know how the 2008 car is going to be. Right now all we can do is keep our fingers crossed and hope that the car is as good as can be and it will work out. But you never know in Formula 1. Look at Renault, they won world championships last year and this year they have fallen back. It's tough."

"But I think I was going to regret it for the rest of my life if I wasn't going to do F1 and I decided to go for it. Of course at the moment, my Champ Car days are not over, I'm having the time of my life so far and I've enjoyed it very much. But it was always my intention to return to Europe, also for my wife and the baby. And the timing seems right, for sure."

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