I cannot blame Sauber, says Frijns

Robin Frijns says he holds no hard feelings towards Sauber after being informed by the team that he will not be retained as part of its driver pool for the 2014 campaign.

The Dutchman, 22, joined the Hinwil-based outfit as its reserve driver in November of last year, but well-documented financial troubles led to a tripartite deal with Russian investors, putting Sergey Sirotkin in prime position to take a coveted race seat.

Although dejected, Frijns admits that he has long been aware of the financial situation, and is not blaming team chiefs for the ultimate decision to part ways.

"I heard it on Wednesday morning, so that was a nice way to wake up!" Frijns told GPUpdate.net. "Of course, I know what the situation is with Sauber and that they have financial difficulties. I knew that my position was in danger. You keep hoping for good news, but it did not come. I cannot blame Sauber, this is just part of the sport."

He added: "I have just had a lousy year. The highlight was the GP2 win in Barcelona; I gave Hilmer its first victory in the Feature Race and I'm very proud of doing that. But the team is struggling with financial problems. No one can do anything about it."

Despite the series of setbacks, Frijns remains hopeful of making the step up to Formula 1 in the future, and will now attempt to build relations with other teams.

"I dream of Formula 1. I'm so close, I won three championships in a row," he said. "I cannot blame myself. We will continue; I am now free and hopefully there are teams that want to talk. Hopefully I can report some good news, I'm done with the bad news."