Grapevine: Bourdais laughs off F1 delay talk

With F1's silly season of rumours continuing into the winter, some conspiracy theorists suggested that Bourdais' switch to F1 with Scuderia Toro Rosso was about to be put on hold.

The theory was that this would then allow Red Bull Racing to move David Coulthard from Red Bull Racing to Toro Rosso, to make room for Alonso to slot in.

But Bourdais, ending his Champ Car career in Mexico this weekend before flying to Barcelona for next week's F1 test, has labelled the stories as pure fantasy.

"Hey, it really is silly season isn't it?" he told autosport.com. "I suppose next I'll be joining my new friend Scott Speed in ARCA!

"I don't have to comment on speculation, but I'm supposed to be testing for Toro Rosso in Barcelona on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week, so this doesn't seem likely to me. But hey, I'm a driver, we're always the last to know."

Bourdais' test at Barcelona next week will be his first run since he was confirmed as a Toro Rosso driver for 2008.