- 16 Jul 08, 12:30#55549From F1 Live:
Rosberg not ruling out team switch
Lack of results getting frustrating
Rosberg is not having a good third season
Nico Rosberg says he wants to win a world championship with Williams, but also does not rule out switching to another team to achieve his ultimate F1 goal.
The German driver, who turned 23 recently, is set to remain at the British team in 2009, but interestingly points out that contracts are no guarantee about the future.
Asked by Germany's Sport Bild is he is 100 percent sure he will be driving the FW31 next year, Rosberg replied: "I have a contract."
Pressed further, he explained: "It's like in football; take (German player Lukas) Podolski.
"He signed a contract for next season at FC Bayern - but will he be there?"
Rosberg was strongly linked with Fernando Alonso's vacated McLaren seat for 2008, but ultimately signed a lucrative extension to remain at Williams through to the end of 2009.
Sport Bild asked the driver about the possibility that other teams will again enquire about buying out his contract.
"The first thing would be Frank Williams," Rosberg explained. "I would only begin to think about it if Frank agreed to release me."
He said his '100 percent' objective is to become world champion.
"If I can't do it with Williams, I just have to go to a team where it is possible."
Rosberg admits he has been disappointed by Grove-based Williams' trajectory in the opening half of this season.
"At the start we were looking really good, but we were not able to have the development progress of the top teams," he said.
"I know that next year I will not win the title with Williams, but I do hope for a big step forward.
"With the new regulations, particularly the cutting back of the aerodynamics, it means everyone starts from scratch basically. Without that, I would have my doubts," he said.
Sport Bild said it sounded as if Rosberg sees 2009 as a final chance for Williams to turn around its form.
"You could say that," the German admitted.
Rosberg seems to be suggesting that he probably would leave Williams next season if the right team came along, but Sir Frank Williams has said that he won't be going anywhere and that no amount of money can change that. Given that Williams are refusing to allow Rosberg to leave, I think we'll see him driving the FW31 next season, but he won't be signing any contract extensions until he sees how Williams are performing. If Williams don't perform, as he says, he will be on his way.
Bruno Senna has been linked with a few teams, such as Toro Rosso, and Berger seems to be a big admirer of him, so he could end up there rather than Williams. If Ayrton Senna had died under less dubious circumstances, i.e. if it were proven that his fatal accident was caused by driver error, Bruno would probably not mind driving for Williams, but that isn't the case. Instead, we don't know how Ayrton died, and there is not unreasonable evidence to suggest that there was a technical problem on his FW16, so there could a few issues that way between the Senna family as a whole and Williams. Bruno moving to Williams would not really be rekindling old times, for Ayrton was not at Williams long enough. What we have instead are dreams of what might have been. I associate Ayrton with driving a red and white McLaren, and, to a much lesser degree, a Lotus. Another question has to be is Bruno really up to standard? Although he has done a decent job in the junior formulae, he has hardly set them alight in the same way other drivers have had. He's definitely worth considering, but if I were a team boss I would not mind seeing him in GP2 for another year.
Ayrton Senna: WDC 1988,
1989, 1990, 1991
McLaren: WCC 1974, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1998,
1999, 2007McLaren: WDC 1974, 1976, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1998, 1999, 2008
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