Scott Speed to get the boot

UPDATE (GMM) Toro Rosso's chiefs have now denied speculation that they are trying to pry Sebastian Vettel away from BMW and into the Faenza based team's 2007 driver lineup.

It was reported earlier this week that the teenaged German could replace America's Scott Speed as soon as the French GP in July.

A spokesman for his current employer BMW reacted at the time that the Munich based manufacturer does not "comment on speculation".

The rumor appeared credible, however, given Toro Rosso's less-than-secret disappointment with Speed, and the fact that Vettel remains under long term contract to Dietrich Mateschitz's Red Bull empire.

STR co-owner Gerhard Berger, however, bluntly told Sport Bild: "There is no plan to replace Speed."

And in the specialist magazine Auto Motor und Sport, team principal Franz Tost is understood to have insisted that Toro Rosso is not attempting to lure Vettel from BMW.

05/15/07 (GMM) Starting at the French grand prix, Sebastian Vettel could replace Scott Speed at Toro Rosso for the rest of 2007.

That is the claim early this week of the specialist publication Motorsport Aktuell, which said team chiefs Gerhard Berger and Dietrich Mateschitz have already opened talks with BMW about releasing its contractual hold on the 19-year-old.

Vettel is the primary test and reserve driver for BMW-Sauber this year, but he remains under long term contract to Red Bull.

'Motorsport Aktuell' said STR are keen on signing Vettel for the balance of the season due to dissatisfaction with California's Speed.

BMW officials insisted that they would not "comment on speculation", while STR co-owner Berger is understood to have rejected the story.