Leimer wants to drive an F1 during the young driver tests

Fabio Leimer competed in the GP2 championship this season with the Italian team Rapax for those who don’t know him. The 21-year-old Swiss driver didn’t really shine this season, scoring points only in Barcelona and in Monza this weekend during the last race of the season. But to drive in Formula 1, talent is no longer enough; you also need money, and preferably a lot of it.

And money might not be an issue for Leimer in his quest to become a Formula 1 driver. Indeed, he has been supported for several years by a generous patron, Reiner Gantenbein, head of the company Bautro, a specialist in drying after water damage, among other things. And Gantenbein might continue to support the career of his young protégé.

Fabio Leimer therefore hopes to at least be able to participate in the tests for young drivers thanks to this financial support, which is apparently on the right track. Gantenbein also specified, to the newspaper SonntagBlick, that he had spent more than 15 million Swiss francs to support Leimer over the 11 years they have known each other.

But Gantenbein’s goal is to bring Fabio Leimer to Formula 1, and he is reportedly in talks with several teams for the 2012 season. Since most of the leading teams already have their two drivers for 2012, Leimer and Gantenbein are negotiating with smaller teams like Marussia Virgin Racing, even though Timo Glock has recently extended his contract and Jérome d’Ambrosio is expected to stay thanks to support from new sponsors.

«If Virgin requests five million Swiss francs, then I could provide them», Gantenbein told the Swiss newspaper SonntagBlick.