Adam Carroll set for F1 debut with Lola?
 Adam Carroll |
04/29/09 Having flirted with the top flight before as a test driver for BAR-Honda back in 2005, it looks like leading A1GP star Adam Carroll may yet get an opportunity to break into Formula 1 – with suggestions the Irishman is in the frame at Lola as the illustrious British company is eyeing a return to the sport in its new budget-capped, low-cost era next year.
Thanks to Carroll’s efforts, Ireland currently sits a close second in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport title chase heading towards the final round at Brands Hatch at the beginning of next month, and the man from Portadown will bid to overturn the scant two-point deficit separating the emerald entry from defending champions Switzerland when he takes to the track to duel it out for glory in the nearest he will get to a ‘home’ meeting in the nation vs. nation series.
Beyond that, however, the Ulsterman has his sights firmly set on graduation to the exclusive grand prix grid – and having raced against and beaten drivers of the caliber of current F1 stars Nico Rosberg and Nelsinho Piquet, he is confident he possesses the necessary talent and potential to make the grade. His previous attempts to make the leap have all been sabotaged by budgetary shortfall.
“I’m looking at my options for next year," he told the Irish Independent. “This has been a great season, but I’m also looking at other opportunities and there may be options for me in F1, especially with new teams expected to come into the series."
One of those ‘new teams’ to which he alludes is Lola, owned by fellow Irishman Martin Birrane and having expressed a very serious interest in rejoining the top flight for the first time in more than a decade should Max Mosley’s groundbreaking new optional £30 million budget cap be formally approved by the FIA today.
The last Irishman to race in F1 was Eddie Irvine, who hung up his grand prix helmet at the end of the 2002 campaign following 147 starts, four victories and the runner-up spot in the 1999 drivers’ world championship with Ferrari. Yahoo! Eurosport