Rookies under scrutiny

Gianmaria Bruni's performance so far this season is reportedly under scrutiny from Minardi boss Paul Stoddart, as the Italian is not providing the expected results. Bruni appears the better driver than teammate Zsolt Baumgartner, but has finished less races -- although to be fair, car problems have contributed as well.

Gianmaria Bruni.

Photo by Brousseau Photo.

"Zsolt finishes races," said Stoddart, according to Autosport. "If you never bring the car home you're never going to score." Bruni didn't finish the United States Grand Prix but Baumgartner scored Minardi's first point of the season.

Bruni went out of the race on the first lap due to an incident involving himself, Jaguar's Christian Klien, Jordan's Giorgio Pantano and Sauber's Felipe Massa. It was unclear exactly what happened but Stoddart believes Bruni should have been able to carry on.

"His car did not need to be switched off," said the team boss. "It was capable of continuing. If he had, he knows he could have taken that point." Stoddart said things needed to be talked about. "We're going to discuss it, as it's not the first time it has happened," he added.

Meanwhile, Jaguar appears to be regretting putting Christian Klien in a race seat. The team wanted Klien as a test driver but the Austrian's sponsor, Red Bull, was keen to see him race, so Jaguar reluctantly agreed.

Motorsport News quoted Jaguar's managing director David Pitchforth as saying: "We lobbied Red Bull very hard to make Christian the test driver and put someone more experienced in the race seat. They now admit that was the better move."