Wurz gets race drive

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Alex Wurz will return to full-time racing in Formula One for the first time since 2000 next year, as he will replace Mark Webber at Williams.

The surprise move prompts speculation about the Webber’s future. Is manager Flavio Briatore about to parachute him in at Renault to replace Fernando Alonso? Could a shock move to Ferrari be on the cards? Or may he replace Christian Klien at Red Bull?

These seem the most likely options – McLaren have Alonso and are chasing Kimi Raikkonen, and have Gary Paffett, Lewis Hamilton and Pedro de la Rosa to fall back on. Honda and Toyota are full and BMW are sizing up Robert Kubica to replace Jacques Villeneuve. Anywhere else would surely be too much of a step down.

It’s great to see Wurz get a new shot at Formula One though. Alongside Giancarlo Fisichella at benetton from 1998-2000 he frequently got second-best treatment, and showed how much pace he had when he made a one-off appearance for McLaren last year and got on the podium.

Ron Dennis complained that he was always gunning for a race seat, but it’s not difficult to understand why.

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Tags: f1 / formula one / grand prix / motor sport

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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