Sears pushing Bourdais to F1

seat for next season, according to his manager David Sears.
Bourdais won the 2002 FIA F3000 title with Sears's Super Nova team, but headed to the US last season after securing a ride with the title-winning Newman-Haas Champ Car, having been unable to attract any interest in grand prix racing.

"If Sebastien Bourdais hasn't got more to offer the F1 paddock than Gary Paffett, I will eat my Calvin Kleins," Sears told Autosport.com. "I would say that at the moment Sebastien's name is being held in high esteem by leading members of the F1 paddock. I would say if he isn't testing an F1 car before the end of this year I will be extremely surprised.

"He's definitely the most technical driver we've had at Super Nova in 10 years, and he's got a degree in mechanical engineering. The attraction is that he's winning races - ability can get dulled if you're just testing.

"He's excelled in the tests he's done before in F1 - he did two with Arrows, and was offered a contract to race if the team continued. He was given a test by Renault, and wasn't interested in the test drive because he would rather race in America. If he wins the Champ Car series this year then he'll be in a good position to come back."

Sears has previously been involved in the careers of Juan Pablo Montoya and Jan Magnussen.