Hot on the heels of the announcement of BMW's withdrawal from F1 comes the news that they will be honoring their commitment to give test drives to the winners of the Formula BMW series last year. Esteban Gutierrez won the European title and I wrote a slightly tongue-in-cheek article about him earlier this year; all I know about Gutierrez, apart from his success in Formula BMW, is the odd coincidence of his name with a line in a T.S. Eliot poem.
Alexander Rossi in the rain
I have seen Alexander Rossi race in the American Formula BMW series, however, and reiterate that he is something special. In the races I watched, he was head and shoulders above the competition, streaking away to wins that looked effortless. Like Gutierrez, he is very young to be considered a possible entrant to F1 as yet but, of all the up-and-coming names, his is the one to watch, in my opinion. Let USF1 find their feet in F1 next year and then perhaps we might see young Rossi in the game.
It is good that BMW intends to let these young drivers have a go in their F1 car, as disappointing as its performance has been. It will be a chance for them to show how they might manage in the pressured and high tech world of F1, even though there is no longer any chance of them progressing from there to a test role with the team. Good luck to them both - I have something like a vested interest in their future success, having predicted such great things from them.
But the bad news is that BMW will terminate the Formula BMW Americas series at the end of 2009. The lack of support for what is a very good series is just further evidence of the parlous state of open wheel racing in America and the result is even fewer opportunities for young drivers to learn the skills of such racing. Unless F1 can establish a foothold there soon, the pool of talented American youngsters will dry up completely and make it almost impossible to rekindle interest in the sport amongst Statesiders.
FOTA's prime goal should be at least one race in America next year and they can start with the return of the Montreal GP.