Sébastien Loeb admits that he was asked by Toro Rosso whether he would like to race in the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Frenchman, now an eight-time consecutive World Rally title winner, had previously tested for Red Bull but declined racing with the sister team.
Set to turn 38 in February, Loeb is unbeaten in the WRC since 2004. His first Formula 1 run came with Flavio Briatore’s Renault team in 2007 for a publicity stunt which saw Heikki Kovalainen drive the Citroën WRC car. Red Bull, a Citroën team sponsor, then awarded Loeb with an F1 test after wrapping up his fifth straight crown in 2008, driving the RB4 both at Silverstone and in the opening winter test in Barcelona. A year later, he became a candidate for replacing the ousted Sébastien Bourdais at Toro Rosso.
“Opportunities like that don’t come knocking every day,” Loeb explained to the The Red Bulletin. “I did some good lap times during a practice session with Red Bull and their idea was to have me race several Grands Prix. But it wasn’t possible. I didn’t have a specific ambition going into it.”
Loeb has verified that taking part in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix of 2009 was a real possibility, although he was not granted a necessary Super Licence by motorsport governing body the FIA.
“I would have been driving for Toro Rosso and that wasn’t a car that could have won, so I wasn’t prepared to do it,” he continued. “I would have got in the car at Abu Dhabi in 2009 and driven the race without any advance practice sessions.”
Bourdais’ eventual replacement was Jaime Alguersuari, who became the youngest driver to ever start an F1 race. For 2012, Toro Rosso welcomes a pair of new race drivers in Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Éric Vergne. In turn, former racer Sébastien Buemi becomes the official reserve driver for both Red Bull-owned F1 outfits.
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