Gerhard Berger has this week admitted that Bruno Senna, the nephew of his late friend and former teammate Ayrton Senna, is an outside chance to drive for his formula one team in 2009.
It is almost a certainty that Sebastian Vettel will move on to Red Bull’s senior team at the end of this season, while current teammate Sebastien Bourdais is under contract only for 2008.
24-year-old Senna, currently second in the GP2 standings, has been mentioned as a possible successor.
“The driver question has not been discussed yet,” Austrian Berger, the Faenza based team’s 50 per cent co-owner, said in interview with Salzburger Nachrichten.
It is believed that Bourdais’ contract includes an option for Toro Rosso to extend, while Vettel’s deal is with Red Bull only.
“If a place with us should become free, it would make sense to fill it with a driver from the Red Bull new generation.
“If not, we will have to look somewhere else,” Berger said.
He pointed out that Sebastien Buemi and Karun Chandhok, both near the pinnacle of the Red Bull driver ladder programme, might not be ready for F1.
He added: “With his victory in Monaco, Senna moved into the field of vision. But a driver from the Red Bull sphere would be logical.”
