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Bourdais joins Toro Rosso in 2008

Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais will race in Formula One for Toro Rosso next season after deciding to turn his back on the US-based Champ Car series.

The 28-year-old, who has won the Champ Car title for the last three years, made the decision to fulfill a long-held dream to race in F1. Bourdais moved to the US after failing to win an F1 drive despite winning the Formula 3000 title in 2002.

Bourdais's move comes after he impressed Toro Rosso in a series of tests this summer. And it marks a rethink of the Red Bull junior team's driver strategy, with both of the drivers who have raced for them since 2006 being dumped.

Last month they dropped American Scott Speed in favor of German Sebastian Vettel with immediate effect, and now Bourdais will replace Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Bourdais becomes the latest driver to try to convert success in the States to the much more demanding world of F1, a career path that has proved to have mixed results.

Canadian Jacques Villeneuve and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya proved competitive on both sides of the Atlantic. But Italian Alex Zanardi was sacked after a single season with Williams in 1999 - after moving in the wake of winning two consecutive titles in the US.

Feudal Times

Boys will be boys... Isn't that what one says... Eddie Jordan has warned Lewis Hamilton not to turn his dispute with McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso into a political fight - I'd like to see Alonso the Spaniard suck this up and go quietly to his corner - Yeah Right!

Hamilton leads the world standings but a feud may prove costly.

It's magic what's happening to Hamilton's career, but he has to be very careful he doesn't get too political. Politics can kill after all. He has to be careful he doesn't say too much that ostracizes him or puts him in a position Ron Dennis has to make a choice. Hamilton was Dennis' protege for several years before making his remarkable entrance into the world of F1.

But while Hamilton has thrived on the track, off it his relationship with Alonso has become strained.

It reached a new low at the Hungarian Grand Prix this past weekend where Alonso was relegated on the grid for blocking Hamilton in qualifying. A childish move you say, but hey, I think it was directed at Ron Dennis than at Hamilton. Hamilton needed to recognize that some of his success was do to having Alonso in the team.

I believe McLaren is giving him a car that's good enough because of what Alonso has brought to the team. So whether he likes to believe it or not, Hamilton has a benefit from Alonso being in the team.

Alonso does feel ostracized as would anyone. He feels the team, initially anyway, was going for Hamilton. He was the big story as was Alonso just last year. Hamilton is playing the media brilliantly, and driving like a champion - at this moment, you'd have to say Hamilton deserves to be world champion.

Hamilton's done everything brilliantly, he just has to be careful. And let's not hand Alonso the second prize by default - try and give each driver a silver spoon not just the new baby.

Why so Public?

What's with McLaren allowing the row between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso to be made public?

Hamilton said Alonso was not speaking to him after his victory in Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix but I think the matter should have stayed private.

It's something for the team to deal with. It's not something for the public to be part of as is the case these days with everything.

I just feel some of the things that are happening and the way certain things are being managed were managed far differently years ago and it is a great shame.

Too much is said most of the time, but that seems to be the way of the world more and more.

I'm also amazed that Formula One's governing body, the FIA, is getting involved in the row between the two drivers. Why? What's that have to do with them?

The FIA prevented McLaren from scoring any constructors' points in Hungary after the incident between Hamilton and Alonso in qualifying.

The thing I find extraordinary is that the powers that be are intervening. It's between two drivers from the same team and it shouldn't affect anyone else.

If they want to cause problems between themselves, then it's surely up to them and their team bosses - not the FIA - don't they have anything better to do?

Hamilton Conquers Hungarian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton drove a copybook race to win a close battle with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Englishman led from start to finish but the McLaren driver was pushed hard throughout the race by the Finn.

But Hamilton stayed cool in the face of intense pressure in the closing laps to extend his championship lead over team-mate Fernando Alonso to seven.

The world champion was fourth after being dropped to sixth on the grid for delaying Hamilton in qualifying. Alonso spent the last 12 laps right behind the BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld, but despite fighting hard was unable to pass the German.

Heidfeld's team-mate Robert Kubica was fifth, with Toyota's Ralf Schumacher, Williams's Nico Rosberg and Renault's Heikki Kovalainen filling the final points positions.

Hamilton looked comfortable in the first stint of the race, quickly building a lead of three seconds and holding it there as he and Raikkonen pushed their cars to the edge.

But after the two men came in for fuel and tires together on lap 19 Raikkonen began to close in on Hamilton, and by lap 27 the Ferrari was just a second behind the McLaren.

On a track where overtaking is notoriously difficult, though, Raikkonen was never close enough to pass and the Ferrari driver's hopes faded when he came in for his final stop before Hamilton, on lap 46.

Hamilton did not make his stop for another three laps, but was still not able to break free of Raikkonen's challenge.

The Ferrari again closed to less than a second behind Hamilton, but again the McLaren star held his nerve to take his third win of the season.

It's been an eventful weekend and quite emotional for all the team

Raikkonen fell to 20 points behind Hamilton with just 60 still available in the remaining six Grands Prix.

But he said he had not given up hope of winning the title.

Alonso's actions in qualifying have increased the tensions within McLaren, with Hamilton saying after the race: "He doesn't seem to have been speaking to me since yesterday, so I don't know if he has a problem."

Alonso spent much of the race stuck behind the Toyota of Ralf Schumacher.

The Spaniard finished the first lap in eighth place after being blocked by Williams's Nico Rosberg as he attempted to make up places at the start, and then sliding wide at the last corner.

Alonso passed Red Bull's Mark Webber and Kubica on consecutive laps to move up to sixth by lap three.

But, his car's aerodynamics hampered by following the Toyota, Alonso could not get past the German before their first pit stops for tires and fuel on lap 17 of 70.

Alonso was given a heavy fuel load, the plan being for him to do a long middle stint and leapfrog some of the slower cars in front of him during the first pit stops.

Even so, he quickly closed in on Schumacher, but again the McLaren was unable to pass - and only got a clear track when the Toyota came in for its final stop on lap 48.

Alonso pitted on the next lap, and emerged comfortably ahead of Schumacher in sixth place.

Suddenly, though, he was in contention for a podium place, when the cars of Heidfeld, Kubica and Rosberg came in for their third stops - one more than used by McLaren and Ferrari.

Alonso leapfrogged Kubica and Rosberg in the pits, and Heidfeld emerged not far in front of the Spaniard, a gap Alonso quickly reduced to almost nothing.

Alonso tried everything to pass, but Heidfeld managed to hang on.

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Hungarian Grand Prix result after 70 laps of Hungaroring:

1.  Lewis Hamilton (GB)     McLaren-Mercedes     one hour 35 minutes 52.991 seconds
2.  Kimi Raikkonen (Fin)     Ferrari             +0.715 secs
3.  Nick Heidfeld (Ger)      BMW Sauber       +43.129
4.  Fernando Alonso (Spa)      McLaren-Mercedes          +44.858
5.  Robert Kubica (Pol)       BMW Sauber         +47.616
6.  Ralf Schumacher (Ger)    Toyota      +50.669
7.  Nico Rosberg (Ger)       Williams-Toyota   +59.139
8.  Heikki Kovalainen (Fin)  Renault          +1:08.104
9.  Mark Webber (Aus)      Red Bull-Renault  +1:16.331
10. Jarno Trulli (Ita)         Toyota           one lap behind
11. David Coulthard (GB)    Red Bull-Renault    1 lap
12. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault              1 lap
13. Felipe Massa (Brz)        Ferrari              1 lap
14. Alexander Wurz (Aut)     Williams-Toyota    1 lap
15. Takuma Sato (Jpn)          Super Aguri-Honda  1 lap
16. Sebastian Vettel (Ger)   Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1 lap
17. Adrian Sutil (Ger)       Spyker-Ferrari     2 laps
18. Rubens Barrichello (Brz)  Honda                2 laps
R Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita)    Toro Rosso-Ferrari 52 laps completed R Anthony Davidson (GB)   Super Aguri-Honda  51 laps
R Jenson Button (GB)      Honda               45 laps
R Sakon Yamamoto (Jpn)       Spyker-Ferrari     4 laps

Key: R = retired

Fastest Lap: Kimi Raikkonen, 1:20.047, lap 70.

Axe for Speed replaced by Vettel

Toro Rosso Formula One team have axed Scott Speed and replaced him with BMW's third driver, Sebastian Vettel.

The 20-year-old became the youngest driver to win F1 points when he drove for BMW Sauber in the US Grand Prix in place of the injured Robert Kubica.

Vettel raced karts for the Red Bull Junior team before driving for BMW in Formula Three.

Speed's future had been in doubt after an angry row with team chief Franz Tost after the European Grand Prix.

Once the German driver received the offer, there was no way they could stand in his way

When he stood in for Robert Kubica in the USA Grand Prix he made history by becoming the youngest debutant to earn a world championship point.

However, the current testing rules mean that he barely gets a chance to drive. Now he has been offered the opportunity to get inside a Toro Rosso cockpit. Toro Rosso have sponsored and coached Sebastian over a number of years.

To place obstacles in his career path now would go against the concept of talent promotion.

Also, Japanese driver Sakon Yamamoto will be back in Formula One as a race driver this weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Yamamoto will finish the season with the Spyker Formula 1 team as replacement to Christijan Albers. Yamamoto enjoyed his last race in October 2006 at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Christijan Albers largely owed his place in Formula One to being able to pay for his drive - and in the end that was his downfall at Spyker.

He had in any case been overshadowed by rookie team-mate Adrian Sutil this season, and when a sponsorship payment failed to turn up they dropped him.

The Dutchman has a smooth, committed driving style allied to a racer's edge. But the speed shown by Sutil underlined what many suspected - that he was not out of the top drawer.