Friday 8 August at 13:37 : Gerhard Berger has played down reports that suggest Bruno Senna, the 24-year-old nephew of the late Ayrton Senna, will almost certainly be signed by Toro Rosso for the 2009 season.

But Berger, the Faenza based team's co-owner who was Ayrton Senna's teammate at McLaren in the 90s and among his closest friends, said he is open to giving the Brazilian GP2 driver a test.

But as for suggestions that Senna's signing for next year is now merely a formality, the Austrian told the Dutch magazine Formule 1 Race Report: "I am still not convinced."

Senna, in his second season of GP2 and currently second on the points table, is among three leading candidates to replace Sebastian Vettel, former grand prix winner Berger insists.

"Bruno Senna is good enough for formula one, but the same applies also to Roman Grosjean and Sebastien Buemi," the 48-year-old said.

"But so far, none of those three have totally convinced me. You could say that I don't yet see a new Vettel," Berger explained.

He insists that it is not a certainty that Senna will ultimately be given a race seat for 2009.

"I'm willing to give him a test, but currently there are no concrete discussions about this," Berger added.