Winkelhock favourite for Spyker drive

Markus Winkelhock has emerged as the clear favourite to make his Formula One debut with Spyker on home ground at the Nurburgring this weekend, with a final decision from the team expected within the next 24 hours.

Spyker have been in talks with several drivers about stepping into the seat vacated by Christijan Albers, who was dropped by the outfit following sponsorship problems after the British Grand Prix.

Honda Racing test driver Christian Klien tested for Spyker at Spa-Francorchamps last week, while Williams test driver Narain Karthikeyan has also been looking for sponsorship backing that would help him secure the seat.

GP2 racer Roldan Rodriguez has also been mentioned in connection with the drive.

However, it is understood that Winkelhock is looking increasingly likely to be given a one-race deal for the Nurburgring, in a move that would prove very popular in Germany. It is believed that a final decision about who gets the ride may not be made until Wednesday afternoon though.

Should Winkelhock get the drive then he will be the fifth German on the grid - after Nick Heidfeld, Ralf Schumacher, Nico Rosberg and teammate Adrian Sutil.

Winkelhock's father Manfred raced in 47 grands prix between 1982 and 1985 for the ATS, Brabham and RAM teams. His best result was fifth in the 1982 Brazilian Grand Prix. He was killed in a sportscar accident at Mosport in Canada in 1985.

Karthikeyan linked to Spyker

Narain Karthikeyan said he is very keen to secure the seat vacated by Christijan Albers at Spyker.

The Williams test driver is one of several drivers currently being linked to replace the Dutch driver, who Spyker dropped due to non-payment by one of his main sponsors.

Spyker Team boss Colin Kolles revealed that India’s Karthikeyan was on his list of options.

"Colin had a chat with me at Silverstone," the 30-year-old driver told the news agency Reuters.

"I'll be delighted to get back to racing, but I'm definitely enjoying my time at Williams."

Karthikeyan made his Formula 1 debut two years ago when he drove for the former Jordan team, who were bought out by the Midland Group and subsequently by Spyker.

His manager Mark Perkins expects a decision in the next few days: "Spyker hope Narain can do a better job than Albers is doing at the moment. We will know by the end of the week."

Albers dumped by Spyker

Formula One minnows Spyker have sacked their Dutch driver Christijan Albers.

The Silverstone-based outfit claimed that due to a non-payment by one of his main sponsors, the Ferrari-powered team were left with no alternative but to terminate his contract with immediate effect.

"This has been a very difficult decision," said team principal Colin Kolles in a statement released on Tuesday.

"Christijan has started to find some form in the car but the team's ambitious development programme has been seriously compromised by non-payment of one of his sponsors and we are faced with no other option."

Spyker's director of Formula One, Michiel Mol, added that the decision to replace Albers was one of the toughest he had had to make since arriving at the team last year.

But insisted the team’s future funding had not been compromised and that the possibility of entering into a new contract with another driver would safeguard the team's financial position.

"We do not expect this will have any adverse effect on Spyker F1's financial result this year," said Mol.

"We would also like to stress this decision has nothing to do with Christijan's recent performances - we still have faith in his contribution as a driver - but the long term future of the team is of paramount importance."

However, as reported in last week’s Inside Paddock, Albers’ days appeared to be numbered after having been outperformed by rookie team-mate Adrian Sutil for most of the season and his mistake in Magny-Cours two weeks ago after driving off with the fuel hose still attached to the car incurred him a five thousand Euro fine.