Motorsport

By Jonathan Gill

16th February 2007

	The Austrian shot to prominence when he finished on the podium in his third ever grand prix while standing in for the sick Gerhard Berger

The Austrian made his debut with Benetton in 1997, but despite showing some promise was dumped by the team at the end of 2000 and replaced by Jenson Button.

Now, after six years spent largely as a test and reserve driver for McLaren – as well as actively pursuing his kite-surfing and mountain biking hobbies – Wurz has been handed another shot at the big time.

This season he lines up with Nico Rosberg at once-great Williams.
“It feels good to be back,” said the 32-year-old, who is praised by the squad for his technical knowledge, as well as his sense of humour. “I’ve not been away from F1, and have been part of championship-winning teams, which raises your game. But I’ve always wanted to get back into real racing.”

Amazingly, during six long years on the sidelines, Wurz never lost sight of his grand prix ambitions. The Austrian shot to prominence when he finished on the podium in his third ever grand prix while standing in for the sick Gerhard Berger. He then proved his racing credentials by banging wheels with Michael Schu­macher in the 1998 Monaco Grand Prix. But it all went wrong at the following round in Canada. He barrel-rolled out of the race and his career lost momentum after that.
After being sacked by Benetton, Wurz – who in 1996 became the youngest winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours at the tender age of 22 – received many offers to compete in lesser series. But having experienced top-level grand prix racing, he didn’t want to settle for second best.

Now, with a permanent race seat at Williams, all those years spent pounding around test tracks suddenly seem worthwhile. “Yes, definitely, 100 per cent,” he explained. “Of course, there were moments of big doubt, but whether it’s in your private life or in business, there is always a way forward.

“Yet getting back into racing is just the start – now there’s a big task ahead of me.” The pressure is on Wurz and his young team-mate Rosberg to stop the rot at former champ Williams, which is currently licking its wounds after suffering its worst grand prix season since its inaugural campaign in 1978.

The outfit is pinning its hopes on the arrival of Toyota engines and a number of managerial changes focused around the imminent arrival of Rod Nelson, who was Fernando Alonso’s engineer at Renault. Even with these alterations, Wurz knows that it will be extremely difficult for an independent team to compete against far better funded rivals with manufacturer backing.

“Of course it’s going to be very tough, and there’s always pressure, but I have no problem with that. It shows you are in an environment with a huge challenge, and that’s what I like,” he said. “It’s a privilege to race for Williams, and I intend to pay the team back for showing faith in me with points and results.”

With the start of the 2007 F1 season in Australia still more than a month away, it remains to be seen whether Williams really can mount a much needed recovery. If so, then Wurz’s long wait on the substitute’s bench will have paid off.