Angry Bourdais Dismisses Exit Rumors

Sebastien Bourdais is set on fighting for his racing seat with Toro Rosso for the remainder of the 2009 season. Despite recent reports that his seat was conditioned by a good result in Germany – which never came – the angry Frenchman insisted he will report to the STR garage at the Hungaroring, two weekends from now.

“Stop making me talk about this, is that clear? I am under contract. I will be in Hungary,” answered a furious Bourdais when questioned about his future with the team by the French broadcaster TF1.

Bourdais had to call it a day on Sunday after only 18 laps, as his car underwent some hydraulic problems in his very opening stint. When coming to the pits, the cameras around the F1 paddock showed a warm embrace between Bourdais and Toro Rosso's Giorgio Ascanelli, which may have been interpreted as a good bye.

However, the Faenza based team did not mention anything about a potential replacement of Bourdais for the Hungarian Grand Prix, as the only official statement regarding the Frenchman said “we unfortunately suffered a hydraulic failure on Bourdais' car.”

Bourdais' manager Nicolas Todt also avoided making any comments on his client's future with the Red Bull-backed team. Toro Rosso is set to debut their Red Bull-developed rear double diffuser in Hungary, which may lead to a boost in performance for both STR drivers.

The strongest rumors regarding Bourdais' exit from F1 are linked with new reserve and test driver Jaime Alguersuari. Five time world rallying champion Sebastien Loeb was also linked with the seat, but Citroen yesterday confirmed their driver will not race in Formula One for at least until the end of this year's WRC campaign.