Hulkenberg & Bourdais join race to replace Badoer

After Luca Badoer’s poor performance for Ferrari at the European Grand Prix, many believe that the Italian’s days in the driver’s seat are numbered.

Badoer finished second from last at last weekend’s race with lap times consistently slower than the rest of the field.

Sympathetic fans have said they believe that his remit from Ferrari could have been to finish the race to allow the team to fully evaluate some of the parts on the car, and this could be why the team have chosen to keep on his services for Spa despite his terrible Valencia performance.

However many people believe that Badoer’s race pace was the best that he can do and are fully expecting Ferrari to replace him with another driver after the Belgian Grand Prix.

Two of the drivers rumoured to be jockeying for Badoer’s seat are GP2 racer Nico Hulkenberg and recently ousted ex-Toro Rosso driver Sebastien Bourdais.

Michael Schumacher’s agent Willi Weber commented to Bild, “Nico would actually be the logical solution. It is wonderful to hear that you are mentioned but there has been no contact from or with Ferrari.”

Bourdais has acknowledged that although he would like to race for Ferrari, he is not one of the favourites to replace Badoer.

“It’s up to Ferrari,” he said to French radio stationRMC. “Unfortunately for me there are many other drivers waiting at the door. Nicolas has spoken about me to the management of Ferrari but my name is not at the top of their list.”

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