Jonathan Summerton is in negotiations with the USF1 Team to join it in its inaugural year of F1 in 2010.
The 21 year old American, whose podium at the weekend has moved him up to second position in the Indy Lights Championship, has raced against a number of current F1 racers and testers and fared well against such opposition as Romain Grosjean, Sebastien Buemi, Kamui Kobayashi and Kazuki Nakajima.
In an exclusive interview with GPWeek, Summerton is introduced as a leading contender for the USF1 drive next season, and confirmed he was in negotiations with the team.
“I have been in touch with Peter and Ken quite a lot and it’s definitely somewhere I’d love to be,” he says in this week’s GPWeek Magazine. “Hopefully everything comes together with the team and the driver. It would be a dream come true making it to Formula 1 and being able to show that it can be done without a budget, to say the least. The last four years have been a hard push at times to even find a ride and luckily each year I’ve been able to find something. To be able to make it to the pinnacle of motorsport, to be able to race against all those guys I raced against in Formula 3 EuroSeries, and to do it with an American team, too, would be great.”
To read the interview go to www.gpweek.com now and turn to page 28.
Summerton is still third in the standings – the driver in second is also American, three years younger, and also has European experience.
Hmmm… three years younger? Are we talking about Alexander Rossi? If so, I think he’s probably still a touch inexperienced. A good prospect for the future, but he needs at least some F3 experience, if not WSR and/or GP2.
I think, and I hope, the guys at USF1 realise that. An 18/19 year old really is still (regardless of the Vettels and Alguersuaris) the exception to the rule in F1 and I have serious doubts that a brand new team would risk a very young driver.
Personally, I hope Jon gets the drive. He’s a good guy and a very fast driver. To my mind, he fits the bill perfectly… but that decision ultimately rests with Peter and Ken. Will be an interesting few months.
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John Edwards – Still a bit young for F1, but has plenty of experience (won his first single seater race at 14), and is Red Bull backed.