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In an interview with Autosport today, Sauber reserve driver Sergey Sirotkin feels he should be given a chance to prove that he has what it takes to be in Formula 1.
Sirotkin had a taste of the action during the in-test in Bahrain in April, but he was part of an official race weekend for the first time on Friday as he took part in Free Practice One at his home race at Sochi.
He completed 22 laps and he didn’t do too badly as he was just 0.407s off his more experienced team-mate Adrian Sutil’s pace.
In his interview with Autosport today, when asked if he is ready for F1, Sirotkin replied with the following:-
‘Definitely. I felt it after Bahrain as well, but that wasn’t really a proper run. Here it is a much better chance to compare and I would say it was a bit of a surprise to me that it was easier and I was closer than I thought. I feel myself more than ready, I just need the chance.’
It would seem that Sirotkin is ready for Formula One and has been for quite some time. As he says, he needed the chance to show what he could in a Formula One car in order to try and gain a race seat at Sauber for next year. And he showed that today with a good performance not far off the pace from Sutil, but he has made a step in the right direction and will learn from this experience today.
Sirotkin was initially expected to drive for Sauber next season, but things have gone quiet on that front. He is also unsure when he will get another opportunity to drive in free practice. Further on in his interview today with Autosport, he added the following:-
‘We are working on that and getting a seat for next year. We are working so that as soon as we get a decision we can think about some extra options. At the moment I can’t say anything officially.
‘Motorsport in Russia is progressing quite well and just this weekend we have made a big step forward. It helps to attract the people and to make them interested in motor racing. It’s a positive any way you look at it.’
It is clear that Sirotkin is trying to get a race seat with Sauber for next season if he can and is working on trying to make this happen as much as possible. It would seem that motorsport in Russia is progressing and gaining more of a following and with him making his Formula One debut today; this will only gather more interest for the country alongside Toro Rosso rookie Daniil Kvyat.
But overall, it is a positive step for Russian motorsport and for Sirotkin himself. As he says motorsport is progressing within the country. Now with himself and also Kvyat associated within Formula One alongside hosting the first Russian GP this weekend, it shows that there is a chance of Russia becoming further involved and passionate about the sport too.
But is clear what Sirotkin’s intention is; which is to gain more experience if he can with Sauber if he gets the chance again before the end of the season or gaining a race seat with the team in 2015. With the driver market moving into the further stages of the F1 “silly season”, only time will tell if he has done enough to gain a race seat for 2015. And I think that he isn’t quite ready for the jump to Formula One and would benefit from more experience with Sauber next season if possible.
