F1 Fanatic

Anthony Davidson mentioned in the FP1 broadcast that paddock rumours are suggesting all is not well at STR. Apparently, Sebastien Buemi is under a lot of pressure from the team to improve his performances, even to the point of their frustrations being voiced over the radio.

Sounds very similar to what happened to Speed, Liuzzi and Bourdais when they were at the team. Why does STR have such a problem with managing its drivers? Will we see Buemi continue at Toro Rosso in 2011 – and if so, how long before he’s replaced?

I used to be a big STR fan but the way they have treated their drivers has really put me off them. You think they’d learn by now that not clobbering their drivers may get better performances out of them.

I think Buemi’s had an alright season. Generally, he’slooked quicker than Jaime and before Korea had made a lot less stupid mistakes than his team mate. He’d also been taken out a lot at the beginning of the season.

If I was STR I’d keep him over Jaime and probably want to hang onto him anyway. He did lead at Canada too and that was some good publicity. I reckon they’ll sign him really late in the day and then boot him out next year unfortunately.

There must be a reason. If the team don’t think Buemi’s performing well enough, so be it. He may be under-performing, or the team may just have high expectations. It doesn’t matter.

At the end of the day, he’s employed by Toro Rosso to drive for them, and if he’s not up to the job, he won’t be around for long. Just like every other driver and every other team on the grid.

Buemi under pressure? He’s beaten Alguersuari all year and had the crash in Korea but so what “Championship Leader Mark Webber” also crashed in that race.

I don’t see why he should be under pressure the STR has been rubbish this year and it’s been disappointing. I guess that’s what was to be expected of a “new” team.

For me Buemi has done a good job and has managed to get into the points when the car is good enough, including a stunning performance in Montreal. This is how the rumours started about him getting a Red Bull drive for 2012 as Helmut Marko said he was impressed by his performance in that race.

I know. Just as I thought they were getting better… :(

If I was to sum up Buemi and Alguesuari, it’s that the former is more solid and the latter more spectacular.

Anyway. Hopwfully Webber will retire, Red Bull will have no chance but to sign Buemi, Ricciardo will move into STR and then someone will buy the team and force them to get their act together, for crying out loud!

no sympathy for the torro rossers, since they booted out bourdais,
anyway what do you expect with 2 less than average joes

sblot

Ned, my point isn’t so much that Buemi doesn’t deserve to be dropped. He’s done okay but not magnificently. My point is that every year or so at Toro Rosso we get rumours of this kind, that drivers are being placed under significant pressure from the management. Quite apart from whether any driver would be able to perform to the best of their ability in such a hostile environment (some drivers might thrive on it, but not many), you have to ask why STR has such form for falling out with their drivers.

I think STR views drivers as dispensible assets, since there’s a healthy queue of Red Bull youngsters waiting in the wings, and whenever the team doesn’t perform to their expectations (which is always), it’s the drivers who carry the can. Perhaps they should concentrate on improving the car rather than blaming their drivers for their performance shortcomings.