Klien turns down Champ Car offer

The Austrian has been dropped by his Red Bull Racing team for next year but the team's owners offered him a paid-for drive in Champ Car.

Red Bull wanted an answer from Klien by the end of today, but he has decided that because he still has options to remain in F1 he will decline their offer.

Speaking to autosport.com about his decision he said: "Today was basically the deadline and if I wanted to go to Champ Car with Red Bull support then I had to sign today.

"But I cannot sign today and I did not sign today because I am still in contact with other teams in F1. My focus is to stay in F1.

"I still have options in F1. I am still in contact with other teams and if I signed today then F1 is gone."

Klien said he was in discussions with several teams about both testing and racing roles.

Although he did not specify who they were, his manager father Johannes has been seen in discussions with both Midland and Super Aguri. There are also suggestions that he has offered himself as a tester for Toyota.

Despite Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz saying last week that he believed the driver could make a return to F1 in the future if he shone in Champ Car, Klien himself is not so convinced.

And he thinks that his best chance of making a future return is to stay involved in Grand Prix racing - even as a test driver.

"I see definitely a better chance to stay in F1 by doing what I am doing. Okay, maybe I will have to do a year's testing, but definitely I want to come back to F1 as a race driver again. I now have three year's experience in F1 and I am only 23 years old.

"If I go to Champ Car now, it will be very difficult to come back. Sebastien Bourdais won the championship three times now, but nobody talks about him at all."

Klien's decision to reject the Champ Car offer may result in the end of his relationship with Red Bull, who have backed his career for many years.

When asked about that situation, Klien said: "We will have to speak to Red Bull, but this decision doesn't mean it is definitely finished with them."