JUNE 14, 2007

Vettel in for Kubica

The FIA doctors have decided not to allow Robert Kubica to race in Indianapolis. His place will be taken by Sebastian Vettel

The FIA doctors have decided not to allow Robert Kubica to race in Indianapolis. His place will be taken by Sebastian Vettel. The 19-year-old German is racing this year in the Renault World Series but although he is the BMW reserve driver, he has no F1 racing experience. The decision to put him into the car for what will almost certainly be a one-off is, therefore, a bit of a surprise as the team might have done better to use its second test driver Timo Glock, who did half a season of F1 with Jordan back in 2004.

Vettel comes to F1 via Formula 3. He finished second in last year's Formula 3 Euroseries, behind Paul di Resta. Vettel impressed the F1 world on his testing debut by setting the fastest time in second Friday Free Practice during the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix and in Monza was fastest in both Friday sessions.

The other problem is that Vettel is a Red Bull driver and is contracted to BMW only until the end of next year. After that Red Bull will have the first option on his services.