From Autosport .... Toro Rosso confirm Buemi for 2009 Scuderia Toro Rosso have confirmed that Sebastien Buemi will be one of their racing drivers in the 2009 season. The Swiss was already the favourite to secure one of the seats after having tested for Toro Rosso for several days during the winter. The 20-year-old from Aigle is part of Red Bull's junior driver programme and last year competed in GP2. "We are delighted to welcome Sebastien, who was already part of the Red Bull family, to our team," said team boss Franz Tost. "Our engineers have been impressed with his speed in the car and his ability to learn and progress during the testing he has carried out for us last year. "That, along with some impressive performances in GP2 was enough to convince us to give him the drive. His appointment also fulfils the aims of the Red Bull Junior Driver programme and meets Dietrich Mateschitz's intention to use Scuderia Toro Rosso as a showcase for young drivers the company has supported in the lower formulae." Buemi will make his debut as an official Toro Rosso driver in the test to be held at the Portimao circuit in Portugal later this month. "I am naturally very happy to be driving for Scuderia Toro Rosso this year," said Buemi. "Being a Formula One driver has always been my target, since I first started racing. "This year, I will do all I can to bring home the best possible results and to show Red Bull that the confidence it has shown in me is justified. I want to thank Red Bull for this opportunity and for all the help they have given me in my career, dating back to 2005." Toro Rosso said Buemi's teammate would be announced in due time. * * * * wonder who will be the other one..I'd take Bourdais over Sato. Carol Andreas ... you should be proud, this young man is Swiss!!
oh no not Sato! Now we will have two loser unknowns, Glock & Sato. It just keeps getting better all the time.
Does it seem strange to anyone else that Torro Rosso's drivers all seemed to be named Sebastien (or Sebastian)? It's not as if it's even a common name. Funny how things happen ....
I'm insanely proud of my compatriot. The last Swiss in F1 was Deletraz in 95. The last Swiss to score points was Surer in the mid eighties. So Buemi doesn't have that much of a steep statistic stacked against him. Glock a loser? The man collected 25 points including a 2nd place podium in Hungary in his rookie year. Hardly a loser in my book.
+1 Glock had a rough start to the season, but like Massa, he improved quite a bit. Overall, he did a very respectable job.
Glock's no loser... he has to be pretty smart to have been able to keep the $25M bonus hidden that Ron Dennis gave him following the final race of '08!
Well, what has SeaBass shown to prove he's worthy of the seat this year? He got totally whooped by Vettel last year, and only started to put on some decent performance after knowing his seat was genuinly under threat. So, i would say Sato deserve his chance again this year.
Well what has Sato done? Get whooped by Jenson Button for two consecutive years, to the point where Honda had to sack their own Japanese driver. (the only reason he had the seat in the first place) Let's remember how crash happy he used to be, and the only reason that stopped, is because he had such a slow car, that he was always in the back. He doesn't deserve the seat based on passing Alonso who was struggling with his car, and had spun out 4-5 times already at Canada. Bourdais struggled this year, but he showed that he could get on well with STR's first car, and towards the end of the year he put on some good performances at Spa, Fuji, doing better than Vettel in those races. Bourdais doesn't deserve the seat massively over Sato, but I think he deserves the nod.
Wouldn't be surprised if they started going after Loeb too . I hear Sato is considering changing his name to Sebastian Sato.
I'd really like to see Sato in the STR, because, with slicks, limited aero, and the Ferrari engine, i'm really dying to see what he can do. Just this season, if he fails, then i'd seriously vote him out. SeaBass? IMO, he just looks lazy to me. With so much of experience at other forms of racing, and including being a WC for Champ Cars(?), and to think a rookie blasted him off, it's really appaling. Sato probably knows, this is his last genuine chance to prove and show everyone what he's capable of. He has this real determination, which i really admire him. Dont get me wrong, i hate it when he thinks with his @ss and slams into others, but like i said, i'd give him this last chance to prove himself.
