News and notes from the world of single seater racing

There has been very little in the way of news on the driver and team front recently, but I will do my best this time out.

Toro Rosso have said that they want to bring in Sebastien Buemi for next year as one of their drivers. This has yet to be confirmed, but it is obvious that Red Bull wants Buemi in one of the smaller teams cars. If this does come true, then it would be a worrying sign for Sebastien Bourdais as Gerhard Berger has said that next year he wants an experienced driver with a young hotshot, and one year of experience may bot be enough for Herr Berger. Hopefully Bourdais keeps his job, he has been very good of late after a slow start to the year and he is a really talented driver.

Fernando Alonso is going......Nowhere. After all sorts of speculation regarding a move to BMW or Honda for next year it appears that Alonso has decided to stay where he is. Renault plan to increase their budget, especially for engines, in a desperate plea to get back to the highs of 2005 and 2006. Winning championships may be unlikely for the team given how good McLaren, Ferrari, and BMW have come along recently and how much money they have to spend compared to Renault. Even if they don't have the budget, the right ingredients are there to build a race winner again, providing that Fernando's heart is into the project.

The A1 Ring in Austria appears to be getting a rebuild with money from, surprise surprise, Red Bull. Grandprix.com is reporting that Red Bull are planning to invest 100 million dollars into rebuilding the A1 ring as a test venue. The chances of getting a race back are slim due to the underwhelming enthusiasm from the locals to the idea. This will provide a good test venue in a very scenic, if not out of the way, location. The Osterreichring if the 70's was a grand old circuit with ast sweeping and ultimately rather dangerous corners. It was eventually scrapped and replaced by a decidedly ordinary track that at least had overtaking opportunities. An Austrian Grand Prix there would be really good for the television spectators, but the locals and the teams may not be as enthusiastic.

In the IRL, most of the new signings will be with their new teams in the non-championship race in Australia, meaning that Dan Wheldon will be driving for Panther and Dario Franchitti will be in the car for Ganassi. This is not too surprising and should make for an interesting race.

In other IRL news and notes Alex Taglani has been confirmed by Conquest racing as one of their drivers for 2009. Tags will provide some experience to the team and their second driver, who has yet to be confirmed but the team website is saying that they will be hiring a driver "with equal grit and gift". This is really vague but it suggests that it will be neither Enrique Bernoldi nor Jaime Camara. Camara had flashes of brilliance throughout the year but was largely average while Bernoldi proved to be a spoiled, whining, backmarker. Tagliani will be a great addition that should provide some leadership that the likes of Bernoldi could not provide to the team as it moves forward. Elsewhere Robin Miller is reporting that Vitor Meira will be replacing Tomas Scheckter at Luczo Dragon racing, should that team continue. I don't know if this is a step forward for the team or not as Meira, although stable, will probably end up just in the middle of the pack, but will keep the car in one piece, while Sheckter will go balls out and crash. At least with an accident the sponsors get some airtime. Maybe that's why Marco Andretti is so marketable........