Feb.8 (GMM) With little more than one month until the first race of 2010, Christian Klien is still not writing off his chances of being on the Bahrain grid.

At the DiTech Racingshow at the weekend, the former BMW-Sauber test driver revealed he is still in talks with "teams" that have yet to complete their 2010 race lineups.

The only remaining seats on the grid are with the struggling Campos team, and the new American outfit USF1.

"The chances are still good," the 27-year-old is quoted as saying by the Austrian daily Der Standard.

Klien said he had been in the running for the Sauber and Renault seats, and indicated that both Pedro de la Rosa and Vitaly Petrov respectively could offer more attractive sponsor packages.

He said he was a possibility for de la Rosa's seat until the "last moment", and the same was the case with Renault.

"With Renault, I was still on the shortlist until 24 hours before the decision (to sign Petrov)," Klien insisted.

"It really was a last minute decision and one that was obviously not easy for the team," he said.

Klien said he was not able to speak about the opportunities with Campos and USF1 "for the sake of the negotiations", and admitted that his chances are "limited".

"Until I no longer see a realistic chance, I will fight to take part in F1," he added.

Klien also said "another year as a reserve driver would not be a catastrophe".

Latest F1 News - Mobile version

26 Feb: New Ferrari not quickest in field - Domenicali 26 Feb: Red Bull still best in 2013 - Tost 26 Feb: 2014 French grand prix 'possible' - Prost 26 Feb: Danica Patrick 'not interested' in F1 switch 26 Feb: Report - Gilles Simon working on F1 engine for Honda 26 Feb: Gutierrez plays down link to Carlos Slim 26 Feb: Caterham exhaust 'legal' insists van der Garde 26 Feb: McLaren replaces Mercedes-bound Lowe 25 Feb: 'Engine maps' trouble for Red Bull, Lotus - report 25 Feb: Mercedes-bound Lowe to miss 2013 opener - report 25 Feb: Mercedes 'in group of teams' behind Red Bull - Lauda 25 Feb: Gutierrez expects Hulkenberg to beat him early in 2013 25 Feb: New Ferrari 'much better' than 2012 - Massa 25 Feb: Teams 'will adapt' to new tyre situation - Gutierrez 25 Feb: Tight rules make today's F1 cars 'the same' - Forghieri 25 Feb: Williams removes controversial exhaust trick 25 Feb: Contract 'conflicts' cause of Marussia test snub - Razia 25 Feb: Lotus to fight Red Bull for title - Gutierrez 25 Feb: Marussia 'ahead of Caterham' - Chilton 25 Feb: Sutil will not stay in F1 as test driver The latest F1 News - Mobile Version