21/10/2009
NEWS STORY
Sebastien Loeb's hopes of making his F1 debut in Abu Dhabi have been dashed after the FIA failed to grant him a Superlicence.
The five-time World Rally Champion - who could make it six in this weekend's Rally of Britain - had been linked with a drive with Toro Rosso in the season finale at Abu Dhabi.
However, writing on his website the French legend revealed that the failure of the FIA to issue him with the necessary Superlicence means that his F1 dream will have to remain on hold.
"I have no regrets because I had no ambition," he writes. "My only regret is that it would have been fun to do it."
The 35-year-old, who has previously tested with the Renault and Red Bull F1 teams, has made no secret of his desire to race an F1 car in anger, and with Red Bull a major sponsor of his Citroen WRC team, an outing in the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix seemed entirely possible.
Despite his age, Loeb still hopes to enter F1 and according to reports the Frenchman has already had contact with USF1.