Buemi testing at the Algarve circuit ahead of the 2009 F1 season
Sebastien Buemi was just 15 years old when he drove a Formula 1 car for the first time. In 2004 sponsors TAG Heuer arranged for him to sample a five-year-old Arrows at Luc on France.
That was the same year Buemi had made the step up from karts to racing cars. He finished third in the German Formula BMW championship while Sebastian Vettel, another future F1 driver, romped to the title with 18 wins from 20 starts.
He was beaten to the 2005 Formula BMW title by Nico Hülkenberg, who scored 287 points to Buemi’s 282. The same year he made his F3 debut in the Spanish championship round at Valencia. The following year he raced in the F3 Euro Series for Mücke, won the reverse-grid race at Oschersleben, and ended the year 12th overall.
Like Vettel, Buemi often seized the chance to make an early move into higher categories when the opportunity presented itself. In 2007, while racing in the Formula Three Euroseries, he made several starts for ART in GP2, impressing on his debut in Monaco. In his 11 starts he set three fastest laps, but back in F3 Romain Grosjean beat him to the title. Buemi also made several starts for the Swiss A1 Grand Prix team.
Buemi also finished second to Grosjean in the inaugural GP2 Asia championship, winning once at Sentul in Indonesia. He stayed with his Arden team for the main GP2 championship and took fifth overall with two wins, including an excellent drive in wet/dry conditions at Magny-Cours.
Toro Rosso
He was signed by Toro Rosso that winter and will drive for the team in 2009, taking Vettel’s place.
Buemi’s first season began well with a points finish at Melbourne. But soon after then it became clear the STR4 was not a match for its predecessor – in both pace and reliability.
Nonetheless Buemi persevered and when the car came good towards the end of the year he was back in the points once again. It was enough to guarantee his place in the team for 2010.
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