If you were Gerhard Berger...

[Scuderia_Russ]

Would you give Bourdais a contract for 2009?

Personally I would.

[cba_]

Yeah 1 more year, after that i would throw him away

[Conceptual]

I would give him a shot in 2009, especially since the 2009 spec cars will be much more like the Chapm Cars that he won 4 titles in.

I believe that he would be the only driver on the grid with "push to pass" experience, so that may advantage him even more.

If I were Renault, I would kick Piquet to the curb and sign Bourdais if STR doesnt!

[timbo]

Yes. I think that slick tyres may work better for him.

[Conceptual]

Wait!!!!!

Who is this M. Bourdais that is named in the poll?

[pipex]

Yup, i would give him a contract for 2009. He has said that the car doesn't suit him, but he is trying to change and i have seen an improvement in his form in the last races. In the first races of the year he proved that his performance was a match for that of Vettel. And i think that slicks next year should help him too. Some of the rookies that are going to replace him are overrated IMHO.

Best regards

[Scuderia_Russ]

Wait!!!!!

Who is this M. Bourdais that is named in the poll?

Monsieur Bourdais. I did wonder if I would end up explaining that one.

[coreybaxter]

I think bourdais is really a good talent who could really improve over the winter break...

[Ted68]

Definitely. This last race he showed he has certainly lost his cherry. Pretty impressive. He and Vettel could do as well as Saint Hamilton given equal equipment. That cannot be said for those poised to replace him.

[ISLAMATRON]

How much $ does he bring to the team? How much $ is his salary? How much money have his points brought to the team? Can I sell his contract to anyone?

What young driver can I bring in to bring sponsorship $ for the team? Will that driver collect as many points? Will that young driver be good enogh that I can sell his contract to a bigger, richer team?

IMO Paul Di Resta is the best available Young driver out there, how much would Mercedez pay me to give him a seat? Di Grassi is the 2nd best available.

All questions Berger & Co have to ask.

VEttel or Bordais being better than Hamilton is Absurd, HAmilton Showed he was at least Equal to Alonso Last year, so you think all three better than Alonso? rediculous.

[guy_smiley]

VEttel or Bordais being better than Hamilton is Absurd, rediculous.

you wont know that until hamilton and bourdais or hamilton and vettel are teammates, so dont say its ridiculous.

anyway, absolutely i would keep bourdais if i were berger! i have more respect for bourdais than i do for, say, button or heidfeld or even kovalainen. more respect that is, not 'better than' per the point i made above.

[Rob W]

If I were Berger I would send a press release out to every newspaper and motorsport publication asking for submissions from motorsport bodies worldwide who can attempt to explain the stewards ruling from the race.

R

[Jersey Tom]

I'd definitely keep him in for 09, particularly with the upcoming rules changes. Already invested this many dollars, silly to get a guy in for one season and toss him.

That said, I was hoping Seb would have done a bit better this year.

[mike]

lewis hamilton is a great driver, without him being british i would have enjoyed his presence in f1
its surprisingly how people are saying to give lewis a break from his mistakes and behaviors on his 2nd year in f1

i would like to think that f1 would keep a man who won 4 champcar championships, rather than a man who despite throwing a title away and still gets all the praises from the british media

talent wise, if bourdais were to debut in a championship winning car i have no doubt that he can win it with much more than just being an arrogant man driving into his championship rivals
lewis may have achieved alot in his early years of f1 career, but we have to understand that he always had great machines to power him to success

[vyselegend]

This is not a topic about Hamilton, please everyone stop dragging that guy in every conversation.

On topic, I'd say Bourdais has found back some credits since Valancia. At Spa he was good, but he said himself the belgian layout did hide most of the problems he have with the STR3. Monza was a case of incredible bad luck, but he proved having the pace there as well. Singapore was a mess, I don't think there's anything reliable to spot in this GP. Fuji IMO is the most encouraging result, since the track was supposed to underline his balance troubles, with corner entries under braking, and combination of very slow , slow, medium and fast corners.

So he seemed to find something there, though a good start (and a disastrous one for Vettel) helped him.

Another good point for him is that since Valancia, he managed to qualify near his teammate 4 times, and when he was behind, he was on a longer stint indeed.

Still, showing some progression isn't enough to justify a racing seat for 2009. ISLAMATRON has some points about the raw realities a team manager has to face when making a choice. It has also been rumored that while hiring a french driver was a good call to support Red Bull drink's arrival in France, the brand is now very focused on the japanese market, where there is some hard fight on the energy drink market. Unsurprisingly, Takuma Sato is the most rumored candidate for Bourdais seat...

Also you're not in the team, and while Bourdais looks charismatic from the outside, maybe his constant whinning about the car is wearing down the nerves of his enginneers (especially since he is supposed to know - and accept- that the car is Red Bull's one, and thus cannot be modified to his will).
And the most obvious point: He has been atomised by his team mate. That is alway a severe call against a driver.

If I were Berger I would send a press release out to every newspaper and motorsport publication asking for submissions from motorsport bodies worldwide who can attempt to explain the stewards ruling from the race.

Ahem, Berger DID comment on the incident actually, but not really in the way you would have thought:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/71399

"It was a racing accident," explained Berger. "Bourdais was inside, if Massa had given him two centimetres more space both cars would go around the corner, so I wouldn't think it's Bourdais's mistake at all. But I wouldn't say it was Massa's either. It was a racing accident. Nothing happened anyway – in a racing situation, two cars touching is a normal thing."

I guess you have to remember who provides the engine... I'm pretty sure he has harsher feelings than that inside his mind, though I might be totally wrong, who knows?