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[Elizabeth Sterling 0]

Now I'm aware of his achievements in Champ Car but honestly the talent pool there has long been growing algae. Champ car is a dying series and being victirous there, something that never ensured any guaranteed success in F1 anyway is nothing like what it used to be. Watching his testing times I've not seen one occasion where he's been particularly competitive with his STR team mates, always coming bottom of the heap quite noticably. Sure, it'll take time to adjust but how long does he have to keep circulating off of the ultimate pace of mid pack drivers like Liuzzi before we start to worry?

I may be biassed, I know I didn't think he'd get that far in F1 before he signed and nobody I know with any contacts that know the guy on any level like him at all or think too much of him. The fact he accepted an STR drive too seems to suggest he's not moving to F1 for a new challenge so much as he knows that Champ Car is on the verge of an unpleasant, groaning death and that he has to take his chances elsehwere too.

What do you people reckon?

[Autumnpuma 0]

I strongly disagree with your assessment of ChampCar's future, less so with your opinion of the drivers in ChampCar, and completely agree with your take on Bourdais. He's talented, but not in the upper F1 league.

[aussief1 4]

He's had it easy for so long but the adjustment to F1 won't suit him and will only highlight his shortcomings against better opposition. I can't see this going anywhere.

I agree with with this.

CCWS is not with all due respect anywhere near the level F1 is at. Both in driver feedback needed to be a success and in terms of other driver talent.

Sebastian Vettel will deal Sebastian Bourdais a massive mental blow over winter testing an into the first half of the championship. It will test his mental ability to come from a series where he was so dominant to the big leauge so to speak and be a aslo ran with STR. If he can cope with the pressure of not being a instant success and can work through the adaption stage he might be able to run with SV on the odd occasion in the later stages of the year - but even this is doubtful because I can see SV making massive improvements throughout the year.

I fear if SB is a failure that the F1 thought on CCWS will be forever tainted and they will no longer show any interest to the driver's currently in that series. After all if SB the most dominante driver ever in CCWS can cut the mustard how the hell can any other driver's.

However I wish him all the best and I'm looking forward to seeing exactly what he can do.

[whiskee 0]

I think he will do well. I only wish he had found himself from a more promising car. But it's hard jump straight to a winning car with his F1 experience.

As expected, Vettel is a bit faster because he has more experience from STR, but Bourdais is going to start kicking his a## before the mid-season is here.

[Elizabeth Sterling 0]

Some interesting feedback so far. I'd not considered that it might have an impact on how stateside drivers are viewed in F1, something that is admittedly a problem already but it's a fair point. Also, it's quite interesting to see a genuine divide in opionion on this one already.

[Eric 0]

He's had it easy for so long but the adjustment to F1 won't suit him and will only highlight his shortcomings against better opposition. I can't see this going anywhere.

I agree with with this.

CCWS is not with all due respect anywhere near the level F1 is at. Both in driver feedback needed to be a success and in terms of other driver talent.

I strongly disagree. A lighter car with 100 more horsepower, slick tires, no traction control, steel brake rotors that don't slow the car down as fast as in F1, cars that have a tendancy to slide around, etc. does not translate to less than F1 talent. I'd consider driver feedback to be equal as well...if it was not, why would N/H/L be pushing to get Wilson for his driver feedback to replace the hole left by Bourdais? Rahal wants a teammate with driver feedback, aka Wilson, and if driver feedback wasn't as important, Rahal could set up the car on his own. I'd say driver feedback is more important in Champ Car, as you have less engineers and less resources than in F1.

With that said, success in Champ Car doesn't exactly translate to success in F1, as both are totally different. F1 is NOT harder than Champ Car, it is DIFFERENT. DIFFERENT does NOT mean HARDER. If we used that logic, NASCAR is HARDER than F1 because JPM and JV aren't setting the world on fire. DIFFERENT. NOT HARDER.

He also has STR, who suck. Bourdais will do okay, not as good as Vettel, but he'll do okay. He won't embarrass himself.

However, him not doing well does not mean F1 is harder than Champ Car. Yes it is a totally different environment in F1 than in Champ Car, but again, there is no harder or easier, there is difference.

[Silas Talbot 0]

I agree with Eric, mostly. However I think the talent is better in F1, which is to say it is "harder" but the problems Bourdais will face stem more from the differences between the series.

Nasir on F1Weekly was saying in the 11-15 podcast that Bourdais won 41% of the races he entered over his 5 year CCWS career. 41%, in a spec series. That means something special... The STR has been known to suprise from time to time, so long as it doesn't break before the end of the race... I think Bourdais could score 10-15 points next season with ease.

[dribbler 6]

He's French.

[bani_f1 0]

I guess he will do well.He may not have the experience and the car he needed to blow away the opposition,but he certainly has the talent.He can score some points once he gets setteled in that STR.And it will take time for sure.But if you are judging him from the testing times then I guess you are making a mistake.

[shampion 0]

I strongly disagree with your assessment of ChampCar's future, less so with your opinion of the drivers in ChampCar, and completely agree with your take on Bourdais. He's talented, but not in the upper F1 league.

Completely agree with you about ChampCar and its drivers.

Champ car is very entertaining to watch, all cars being similar, on any given day any driver could win.

Most races... comes down to driver skill rather than the car driven..... as formula one has turned out to be.

and Bourdais??? I'm gonna hold of on writing him off.

[Bro. 0]

Ill keep an open cheque book on him at the moment.

His a great driver but I think that the politics may catch him out because he may have become too used to the American way of life, (sounds wierd as a Frenchman but the same thing did happen to the Italian Alessandro Zanardi lest not forget.)

And F1 is a business as much as a sport, and also he to deal with the fact that in every race he isnt expecting to win.

By halfway through next season will proove how much he wants to stay in Formula one, because he may not have the motivation to finish 12th or 13th and constantly have to keep up with his team Mate, and have the team yell at you during a race saying youre half a second slower than Sebastien, come on, its Going to be very tough on him, and the French are pussies as Jeremy Clarkson would say.

[redfive 0]

Two things about Seabass

1/ His team (Newman/Haas) has a budget equal to the ENTIRE rest of the field put together - hardly surprising knowing this that he does so well - expect to see Justin Wilson dominate CC next season if he gets the seat.

2/ The opposition is not that good

I dont expect him to set the world on fire in 2008

[Kati 0]

Just don't expect much from him.

[Rainmaster 7]

I voted for the midfield option, I just think a lot of the drivers in F1 would beat him, of course the likes of Lewis, Nando, Massa & Kimi would beat him, but I also reckon Heidfeld, Button, Rosberg, Kubica, Kova, Webber and DC would all have him in their mirrors (if they were team-mates).

Bourdais has dominated champcar because he is fast and consistant, his racecraft ain't top notch and I just don't rate him that highly because of the drivers he has beaten. I think him and Vettel will be quite close next year. It'll be an interesting comparison, surely a guy who has won four straight CCWS titles should have someone like Vettel under control quite quickly?

Basically given the same car I think someone like DC could do the job Seb did in CCWS.

[Eric 0]

I agree with Eric, mostly. However I think the talent is better in F1, which is to say it is "harder" but the problems Bourdais will face stem more from the differences between the series.

Nasir on F1Weekly was saying in the 11-15 podcast that Bourdais won 41% of the races he entered over his 5 year CCWS career. 41%, in a spec series. That means something special... The STR has been known to suprise from time to time, so long as it doesn't break before the end of the race... I think Bourdais could score 10-15 points next season with ease.

His 5-year career wasn't in spec cars, only 2007 was spec, the rest were semi-spec (everyone had the same chassis and engines, but the cars were not spec, confusing to explain)...

[DOF_power 0]

I strongly disagree. A lighter car with 100 more horsepower, slick tires, no traction control, steel brake rotors that don't slow the car down as fast as in F1, cars that have a tendancy to slide around, etc. does not translate to less than F1 talent.

The CCWC are heavier, always were.

They have the same power now, but the V10s were more powerfull.

Slicks ... so a bigger contact patches is showcasing driver skill ?!

If anything, this means he'll struggle on the slow parts.

TC, what's this supossed to mean ?!

Gone in 2008, and remember Michael Andretti or Da Matta ?!.

I'd consider driver feedback to be equal as well...if it was not, why would N/H/L be pushing to get Wilson for his driver feedback to replace the hole left by Bourdais? Rahal wants a teammate with driver feedback, aka Wilson, and if driver feedback wasn't as important, Rahal could set up the car on his own. I'd say driver feedback is more important in Champ Car, as you have less engineers and less resources than in F1.

With that said, success in Champ Car doesn't exactly translate to success in F1, as both are totally different. F1 is NOT harder than Champ Car, it is DIFFERENT. DIFFERENT does NOT mean HARDER. If we used that logic, NASCAR is HARDER than F1 because JPM and JV aren't setting the world on fire. DIFFERENT. NOT HARDER.

He also has STR, who suck. Bourdais will do okay, not as good as Vettel, but he'll do okay. He won't embarrass himself.

However, him not doing well does not mean F1 is harder than Champ Car. Yes it is a totally different environment in F1 than in Champ Car, but again, there is no harder or easier, there is difference.

F1 is harder.

The numbness/electronic feeling/lack of natural feeling of the F1s coupled with the inferior/poor/inexistent mechanical grip always killed the "americans".

[Elizabeth Sterling 0]

Also I'm fairly certain Champ Car still isn't entirely a spec series, it's just that only Panoz have a chassis on offer and basically none of the teams are generating the kind of revenue to build their own as the viewing figures and incomes have dropped to an all time low.

[bani_f1 0]

Champ car is almost close to being dead and its revenues are going down steadily.And moreover champ car is completely different to what formula1 is.Both of them have many technical differences to cope with.Like weight,TC,engine power,Brakes,Electronics and all.But being successful in a CCWS doesn't necessarily mean that he would be successful in formula1.But we have to wait for sometime before jumping to any conclusions.

[redfive 0]

Also I'm fairly certain Champ Car still isn't entirely a spec series, it's just that only Panoz have a chassis on offer and basically none of the teams are generating the kind of revenue to build their own as the viewing figures and incomes have dropped to an all time low.

you are quite correct - CHamp Car teams can make tweaks to the car to gain an advantage

and knowing that Newman/Haas (Seasbass's team) have a wind tunnel whilst no other teams do, gives you an idea why they have dominated. Expect to see the same next year if Wilson gets Seabass's seat.

[mikathegreat2 2]

Only seen Bourdais on some reality TV show shown on UKTVG2 now called Dave called Race Car Driver based on ChampCar, only 30mins long. Some guy retardedly missed a corner after being in the lead 3-4 seconds ahead of Bourdais in some night race in Texas !

Anywhays, of all the things I've heard of him & the 5 mins I've seen of him on a weekend show, he seems like a good driver but not really up the top, maybe 7 or 9th.

[DriftingGuy 0]

I live in France. Most French don't even know who Sebastien Bourdais is. And if they do, they don't care about much about him.

[DriftingGuy 0]

Champ car is almost close to being dead and its revenues are going down steadily.And moreover champ car is completely different to what formula1 is.Both of them have many technical differences to cope with.Like weight,TC,engine power,Brakes,Electronics and all.But being successful in a CCWS doesn't necessarily mean that he would be successful in formula1.But we have to wait for sometime before jumping to any conclusions.

The civil war started by Tony George has destroyed top level open wheel racing in the States. ChampCars is a pale shadow of its former self and the IRL is a joke. When will saner heads prevail?

[Elizabeth Sterling 0]

I think we'll see a return to the good old days as racing there was before the OW split only when Chamo Car dies. Shame really as CC/CART was the much more entertaining series for so long and they were very much the victims of Mr George's ego, the thing that caused the split in the first place.

[Eric 0]

A comment on American open wheel:

Tony George was the enemy, but now he isn't. Holding an 11-year-grudge just shows you are a baby and take this way too seriously. What TG did makes sense now as the IRL is on the rise. If Champ Car and its fans go with an anti-TG mentality, Champ Car will die. The IRL is alive and well and will continue to be that way. Champ Car cannot survive without them, but the IRL can survive without Champ Car. TG made the IRL into CART Light, and it gets better with every year. The Three Amoebas, err Amigos, have their heads up their asses. TG may have "killed" American open wheel, but KK and the gang are killing it now. They pretend everything is fine and won't admit they have problems, and can't handle the truth. Why else did they take Robin Miller's hard card? Champ Car is destined for fatality, and TG is just sitting there laughing because he'll absorb more teams and drivers. To hate TG for making what turned out to be a good business decision just proves you can't handle the fact that things change and need to point the blame at someone. Just let it go.

(This isn't aimed at anyone in particular, but I felt it needed to be said)

[Eric 0]

The civil war started by Tony George has destroyed top level open wheel racing in the States. ChampCars is a pale shadow of its former self and the IRL is a joke. When will saner heads prevail?

The IRL is far from a joke. The IRL gets TV ratings twice as much as Champ Car and is signing more new sponsors (an official motor oil, official energy drink, and official soft drink will be announced, and there are still rumors of Busch Beer coming on board). The car count is up and they keep adding more races, and have essentially become CART Light, with a variety of different types of ovals, permanent road courses, and street circuits. The IRL is on the rise. Sad to say, TG knew what he was doing.

Years ago, IRL races were empty. Now they get decent-sized crowds; even the non-ISC ones. Champ Car, on the other hand, has dwindling crowds. In its second year, the Gran Premio de Mexico had 175,000 in attendance. This year, they'd be lucky to have had 10,000...which is about the same in attendance as there are every freezing cold Saturday night at my local short track.