Citroën Racing and Sébastien Loeb move to quell F1 rumours

Speaking in a joint statement from Citroën Racing, both Sébastien Loeb and the team have moved to quell recent press speculation that the five-time world champion will be leaving the WRC for an F1 drive.

The team has confirmed that Sébastien Loeb is under contract with Citroën until the end of the current year and negotiations for 2010 are in the process of being finalised.

Going on to say that like any top-flight sportsman, Loeb enjoys fresh challenges, as was the case at the end of 2008 when he tested both the Red Bull F1 car and the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP. However, his desire to drive a Formula 1 car and any opportunity which might arise as a result of partners being involved in different disciplines will in no way take precedence over Citroën's objective for 2009.

Citroën Racing and Sébastien Loeb move to quell F1 rumours

Sébastien Loeb stated:

I know what my priority is: it is the World Rally Championship. But what would you expect a driver to answer if asked whether he would like to drive a Formula 1 car? That said, with four rallies still to come, we have our work cut out if we want to secure a sixth Drivers' title and a fifth Manufacturers' crown. For the moment, my energy is fully focused on that goal.

I am a little surprised by the turn this whole business has taken, and above all by the way what I said has been misquoted or taken out of context to spread rumours. It just isn't really my style to make declarations in the press about Sébastien Bourdais.

Citroën Racing Director, Olivier Quesnel, added:

Citroën Racing has never prevented its drivers from expressing their passion for motor sport. As we have already said, Sébastien Loeb is shortly due to do some testing with the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP, because I know how important it is for him to try his hand at different activities as a driver. Should Seb get an opportunity to race in F1, our reaction would not be to prevent that from happening, so long as it would happen after the final round.

We've got the challenge of Rally Finland coming up at the end of the month. The 2009 World Rally Championship is turning out to be a thrilling contest and I just hope that we will succeed in sparking the same sort of media interest as these rumours concerning Formula 1 have.