• Most Popular
  • Most Shared

Motor racing-Sato in talks with Toro Rosso

Tue Aug 26, 2008 12:39pm EDT

LONDON, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Japan's Takuma Sato has had talks with Toro Rosso about a possible return to Formula One next season but a test has yet to be agreed, the team said on Tuesday.

"We have had talks but there is nothing to confirm yet," said a spokeswoman when asked whether they might try out the 31-year-old at Jerez in southern Spain after next month's Italian Grand Prix.

Sato is Japan's most successful Formula One driver but he has been looking for a way back into the sport since his Super Aguri team folded in May.

The driver's manager Andrew Gilbert-Scott told Reuters that they were talking to several teams.

"If we had the chance to test with them, then we'd be delighted to do so," he said of Toro Rosso, who are co-owned by Red Bull energy drinks billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz and Austria's former racer Gerhard Berger.

Toro Rosso need a replacement for Germany's Sebastian Vettel, who is moving to Red Bull to take over from retiring Scot David Coulthard, while France's Sebastien Bourdais has yet to be confirmed for 2009.

Berger told the autosport.com website that Red Bull's Swiss junior driver Sebastien Buemi would have an evaluation test at Jerez in September.

"The ideal situation would be a young driver and an experienced one," he said of next year's lineup. "We are putting everyone on the list who is free, but there is no clear option at this stage. We will take our time."

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, Editing by Clare Fallon)



More from Reuters

Photo

Qaeda group says responsible for Detroit air incident

KAILUA, Hawaii (Reuters) - A regional wing of al Qaeda claimed responsibility on Monday for a failed Christmas Day attack on a U.S.-bound passenger plane, saying it was to avenge U.S. attacks on the group in Yemen. | Video

Passengers queue to go through security checks at the departure gate at Gatwick Airport, in southern England December 28, 2009.    REUTERS/Luke MacGregor

Travel headaches after scare

The U.S. is stepping up airline security measures following the Christmas bomb scare. Here's what you can expect.  Full Article | Video 

A man yells at the site of suicide bomb attack on a procession of Shit'ite Muslims commemorating Ashura in Karachi December 28, 2009. Credit: REUTERS/Athar Hussain

"Worse than an infidel"

Dozens killed as suicide bomber attacks Shi'ite Muslim progression in Pakistan despite thousands of security forces on high alert.   Full Article | Video