F1: Bourdais To Consider Legal Action; Webber To Extend Red Bull Contract

AXED SCUDERIA TORO Rosso driver Sebastien Bourdais says he will consider taking legal action after he was dumped by his team following the German Grand Prix.

The four-time CART World Series champion has struggled since entering Formula One last year, finding himself regularly outpaced by teammates Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Buemi.

Although his struggles against Vettel were forgiven due to the German’s seemingly preordained gift for wielding a Formula One car, Bourdais was unlikely to be given the benefit of the doubt when competing with Buemi.

Buemi entered the F1 championship this season as one of the least prepared drivers to be awarded a seat in recent memory, and was largely expected to struggle.

But the Swiss has defied all expectations, picking up three points and proving Red Bull’s young driver program is extremely adept at developing talent for Formula One.

However, Buemi’s success has highlighted Bourdais’ shortcomings, prompting his team to find a replacement in teenager Jamie Alguersuari, a previous winner of the British Formula 3 Championship.

Bourdais though remains stunned by Toro Rosso’s decision to terminate his employment, telling the BBC he may take the team to court for breach of contract.

"I consider that Toro Rosso has breached contractual duties. Nothing in my behaviour would legitimise a decision to terminate,” he said.

"I have instructed my lawyers to review the situation including the possibility of issuing legal proceedings."

Bourdais’ frustrations were heightened by the fact Toro Rosso is set to introduce a series of aerodynamic updates for the Hungarian round of the championship, which may propel the Faenza-based outfit into the top ten.

“I am even more frustrated by the team's decision considering that the latter has been taken immediately before the Hungarian Grand Prix, where a new highly-competitive racing package will be introduced in order to try and overcome current difficulties,” he said.

"I am convinced that if I was given the chance to race with such a new package I would have had the opportunity to achieve satisfactory results."

Meanwhile, Autosport is reporting that Red Bull will soon commence contract negotiations with Australian star Mark Webber in an attempt to ward of the advances of rival outfits.

Webber’s stunning victory in Germany has re-alerted the F1 paddock to the former Williams star’s considerable talent, with a number of drives available for next season.

Among the teams yet to finalise their driver line-ups include Brawn GP, Toyota, Renault and McLaren, but Webber is expected to remain loyal to Adrian Newey and his team at Milton Keynes.

However, Webber and Red Bull are still to negotiate the finer aspects of the deal with the 32-year-old seeking a contract extension of at least two-years, while the team would only like to commit for one more.