13 replies to this topic

[Finntastic]

Does somebody know something about this? Any ideas what could it be??

From F1today:
"...According to Wurz's manager, Peter Cramer, a new and unexpected offer has been made to the Austrian that will allow him to remain in Formula One competition next season, however, further details are still unknown. According to reports they are considering this new offer very seriously and an announcement should be made sometime in the coming week.

"Concerning my future, I still cannot inform friends and fans," Alex remarked. "Not before the end of the week."...)

[Jonathan]

I think Prost already has drivers for 2001.

Maybe a Minardi test driving position is open ?

Peter Sauber might be interested in him too ?

[Zawed]

It must be Sauber, thats the only decent seat left and with Hiedfeld there they would want a reasonably experienced driver in the other car. I just can't see Wurz lowering himself to drive for Minardi. The only other available seats are the Arrows, and I heard on the grapevine that the current drivers are pretty safe there.

[Witt]

The timing of the announcement is the most interesting part. This announcement by Wurz came straight after rumours that Diniz was indeed not going to Prost, which leads me to believe that Prost is the latest offer for Wurz. Perhaps Jean Alesi bad-mouthed Diniz a little and the deal fell through, i don't know really? I can only speculate.

The announcement says that he can race next year, so i guess that puts Mclaren out of the equation, unless they're playing funny buggers with us. If it was for Mclaren, and Mclaren also signed Zonta, that leaves us to speculate what Dennis is up to. If that were to happen, my bet is we'll see Hakkinen & Coulthard doing minimal testing next year.

[Oachkatzlschwoaf]

Before this announcement rumours here in Austria said it was pretty sure Wurz and Zonta would be testing for Mclaren next year(because of more testing,eg. for the new Michelin-tires).
I could see Wurz only go to Prost, where else should he go ? Arrows I'm sure will stay the same, and no way will he drive for Minardi(nor would he get an offer to drive for them I believe). Peter Sauber already said his second driver won't be Austrian, but that was clear as soon as they signed Heidfeld.I mean, imagine a German and an Austrian in a Swiss team...Petronas wouldn't have been too happy.

[Megatron]

With testing being cut next year, it might be wise for McLaren to employ two vetren F1 drivers as testers, but it seems a bit excessive to me.

[Megatron]

Woo hoo, that was my 1000th post.

Thank you, thank you ;)

[Holy Driver]

What about Hakkinen quitting at the end of 2000 and Wurz World Champion 2001 in a McLaren ?

OK, slightly joking, but nothing I´d bet my life on not happening ...
Prost doesn´t seem to be a likely option since Austrian papers reported Wurz wasn´t interested in a seat there because the future of the team was too uncertain.

[BuzzingHornet]

I don't think Alesi will want to put himself against Wurz again. Wurz did well against Alesi in 1997 and is a very good test driver.

[Ali_G]

It was in the press yesterday taht both are hoping to be test driver for McLaren next year. Its not exactly a great offer for Wurz is it.

Niall

[Oachkatzlschwoaf]

I don't think they are talking about McLaren when they say 'new and unexpected offer'. There were a lot of rumours the last few weeks about that McLaren-testdriver-thing, I wouldn't call that new or unexpected.
I'm really anxious to see what he will do next year...

[Holy Driver]

OK, so another silly suggestion:
Could this statement be related to the "Schumi considered quitting after Monza" - news ?

[MattFoster]

Was there not a rumour a few years ago placing Wurz at Ferrari replacing Eddie. Maybe he could be up for the Ferrari testing position?

Cheers
Matt

[Finntastic]

From itv.com:
"...He was widely expected to become a McLaren test driver alongside Ricardo Zonta but racing seats are still up for grabs at Sauber and Arrows.

Peter Cramer said: “We have suddenly had a new and significantly improved offer for next season. We are seriously considering it.”..."