26 November: Red Bull Racing have
announced today that they've released test driver Bjorn Wirdheim from
his contract. Wirdheim was expected to test for the Red Bull Racing team this
week at Barcelona as part of the process to select the 2005 driver line-up for
the team. However it appears that Wirdheim was not a serious contender for a
race seat and has been released so that he can pursue other opportunities. Christian Klien and Vitantonio Liuzzi remain the favourites with
Klien rumoured to have been offered a contract and Liuzzi setting impressive
times in Barcelona this week.
Nick Heidfeld is another candidate that Red Bull are interested in however
Heidfeld is scheduled to test for Williams early next month.
The statement by Red Bull Racing read:
The Red Bull Racing team and Bjorn Wirdheim have reached a
mutual agreement releasing Bjorn from his contract with the team thereby
allowing him to pursue other opportunities for 2005.
The Swedish driver was the 2004 test and reserve driver for the Jaguar Racing
team, now owned by Red Bull. The contract was due to finish at the end of
December, but the decision was taken to release Bjorn early.
Red Bull Racing team Managing Director Dave Pitchforth commented "I would
like to thank Bjorn for all of his help and support for the team over the last
year, and wish him the best of luck in the future"
The Red Bull team are currently evaluating driver options for 2005, and are
using the test sessions in Spain at Barcelona (24 – 26 November), and Jerez
(1 – 3 and 8 – 11 December) as part of this process.