JUNE 3, 2002

Is there a chance for Helio Castroneves in Formula 1?

Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves says that he wants to get his chance in Formula 1 but he says that unless he gets offered a good car he is not going to leave the United States of America.

INDIANAPOLIS 500 winner Helio Castroneves says that he wants to get his chance in Formula 1 but he says that unless he gets offered a good car he is not going to leave the United States of America.

Castroneves is 27 and the current trend in F1 is for drivers to be in their early twenties which means that the chances of the Brazilian getting an offer from a big team are, at best, limited. There are some success stories of drivers transferring from the American racing scene to Formula 1 but they are the exception rather than the rule. Jacques Villeneuve did it and went on to win the World Championship with Williams, while Juan Pablo Montoya was "parked" in CART for a couple of years when Williams had more drivers than it knew what to do with. Alex Zanardi's return to F1 from America was a complete disaster and back in the early 1990s Michael Andretti had a miserable time with McLaren.

Thus it is fair to say that the odds are stacked against Castroneves being offered a topline drive in F1... although you never know.