Christijan Albers Loses Spyker Drive

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Spyker has announced that it has split with Christijan Albers with immediate effect.

The Dutch driver had been under pressure all season after struggling to match his rookie team-mate Adrian Sutil's pace, but a team statement said that he had ultimately been dropped after a sponsor defaulted.

"This has been a very difficult decision," said team boss Colin Kolles.

"Christijan has started to find some form in the car, but the team's ambitious development programme has been seriously compromised by non-payment by one of his sponsors and we are faced with no other option."

There had been speculation for several months that Albers might not see out the season with Spyker.

He had been out-qualified by Sutil seven times in nine races, and had made a number of errors - most notably his pit stop disaster at Magny-Cours.

But Spyker's Formula 1 director Michiel Mol was adamant that Albers' performance was not the issue.

"The decision to replace Christijan is one of the hardest I have had to take since becoming involved in the team," Mol said.

"By terminating the contract with Christijan and the subsequent entering into a new contract it enables Spyker F1 Ltd. to safeguard its strong financial footing needed to fulfil its technical and commercial goals.

"We would also like to stress this decision has nothing to do with Christijan's recent performances - we still have faith in his contribution as a driver - but the long-term future of the team is of paramount importance.

"We would like to thank Christijan for his input and wish him every success in the future."

Spyker has not yet announced who will replace Albers.

Honda reserve Christian Klien has been linked to the drive.

Source