APRIL 28, 2003

Will McLaren release Wurz?

The speculation in recent days has been that Alexander Wurz will replace Antonio Pizzonia at Jaguar Racing after the Spanish Grand Prix, but our sources say it may not be quite as easy as that as McLaren may not want to release its third driver at this point in the season. Most testing contracts allow the driver to depart if there a race drive available but not all of them come without conditions and it may be that Jaguar will have to be willing to pay to get Wurz's release. The role of the third driver is often overlooked and several teams have indicated that with the busy work schedules that exist nowadays the loss of the third driver would be a big blow to any team.

For the moment the question is an academic one as Pizzonia still has the drive but we expect to see negotiations going on in the days ahead.