(GMM) You would be forgiven for thinking that England's Dan Wheldon felt a little forlorn over his Christmas turkey.
The 27-year-old - who in 2005 triumphed at the Indy 500, conquered America's premier open wheel series and earned nearly $4 million - negotiated with Honda, Williams and BMW-Sauber ahead of the new F1 season.
The closest he came to a deal was with the latter team, but they ultimately refused to guarantee him a race drive -- even if he agreed to spend the whole of 2006 as test driver.
In F1, Wheldon has found a sport that he says defies logic in signing drivers based on how much money they can bring to a team, rather than how much talent runs through their genes.
But he told UK's The Times daily newspaper that he enjoys a very happy and successful career across the Atlantic.
He said: ''It astonishes me that people pay up to $5 million for a (F1) test drive.
''It makes no sense to me.
''Of course, I want to try formula one but I have learnt from being in America that it is not the end of my career.''
Written: Wed, 04 Jan 2006 13:18:13
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