Feb.9 (GMM) Christian Klien’s manager has admitted he would like to see the Austrian driver in consideration for the remaining F1 race seats in 2011.
Already hoping to secure the second race seat at HRT, 28-year-old Klien’s name has also been casually linked with Renault following injured Robert Kubica’s rally crash.
“Until now, HRT was the only team with a free cockpit,” Roman Rummenigge, who manages the former Jaguar and Red Bull driver, told the Austrian news agency APA.
Klien has also been a test driver with departed BMW and Honda, and was arguably the quickest of HRT’s multiple drivers last year as he sat in for the struggling Spanish team’s regulars on three occasions.
“After the drama with Kubica I must of course follow my duty as manager and also consider Renault as an option,” insisted Rummenigge.
However, Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport claims that of all the reported candidates, the favourite for Kubica’s number 9 cockpit is the grand prix veteran Nick Heidfeld.
The report said the 33-year-old was last week “on the verge” of returning to Mercedes in 2011 as reserve driver, “but since Robert Kubica’s accident, those plans have been postponed”.
