F1 to shun Indy winner
''Wheldon is a very good driver,'' BAR sporting director and fellow Indy winner Gil de Ferran told the UK's 'The People' publication. ''I called him after the Indy 500. He is a mate, but there are no official discussions.''
De Ferran then set out the quest to retain Button, although Frank Williams' 2006 'option' may either entice or compel him to return to Grove. ''We would love for him to stay,'' said Gil, ''but the decision for next year will come later.''
Dan Wheldon, meanwhile, has more than one egg in one basket. He revealed: ''A second (team) got in touch after Indy.''
[Editor's Note: We don't know what some people are smoking, but F1 teams are not going to take drivers from a 100% throttle no talent required race series. Until such time as the IRL becomes predominantly road courses like Champ Car, the best an IRL driver can expect from F1 is a test drive for PR purposes. For example, if Danica Patrick gets an F1 test at Indy this coming week it will be because it's a PR stunt orchestrated by Bernie Ecclestone to help sell race tickets, not because Patrick is qualified to race in F1. On the contrary, she never won a race in Champ Car's road racing ladder series (equal cars) and has yet to win a race in the IRL.
This is why American oval racing (NASCAR and the IRL) will never produce a World Driving Champion – the "show" is more important than the talent behind the wheel. When you go through the European development series you are competing against some of the most talented young drivers in the world, and it is only those drivers that can win regularly in Europe that will get a real shot at an F1 ride. Scott Speed is doing it right by going through the European system and winning regularly, hence has a real shot at being the next American in F1.