Grapevine: Da Matta Still Unsure about F1 Switch

Brazilian Cristiano Da Matta has spoken with compatriot Rubens Barrichello about a possible switch to Formula One next season, but admitted he is still unsure over whether to join Grand Prix racing.

Da Matta has been constantly linked with a move to the Toyota team, with whom he enjoyed a successful test earlier this season, next year in place of Scot Allan McNish and the Brazilian said he has been given advice by Ferrari driver Barrichello.

But Da Matta, who leads the CART championship with the Toyota-powered Newman-Haas team, said he is having doubts about joining Formula One newcomers Toyota because he would be denied an immediate assault on the title.

"Rubens warned me Formula One is very political but he said he is very happy and I believe I could be happy there too," said Da Matta. "If you are a real racer, your personal satisfaction is higher in CART. I wouldn't want to go to Formula One just to participate. I am not going to make up the numbers.

"I can be happy in Formula One, but I still have a little bit of a question mark in my head. I'd make more money in F1, but I have to consider that I am winning in a competitive car over here - and it might be three years before that happens with Toyota.

"I like that about CART. With my Newman-Haas team this season we can win, but even in my first two years with another team, which would have been the equivalent of Arrows in F1, I went to every race thinking I could win. Would an Arrows driver expect the same?

"Over there you get the name, the fame and the glamour. But if you are a real racer, a real sportsman, then the personal satisfaction is much higher over here."

But Da Matta, who is thought to have a clause in his contract that requires a £6 million buy-out, added that joining the Toyota Formula One programme could be a sensible long-term option because of the funding behind the project.

"However, there are not many teams like Toyota, who have the resources and potential to improve," he added. "I have not made up my mind. Toyota can be a pretty big team, but this is a reality here in CART."