Sebastien Buemi confirmed as Toro Rosso driver for 2009

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Sebastien Buemi will make his F1 debut for Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2009

Sebastien Buemi’s move to Toro Rosso has been predicted for months so it doesn’t come as any great surprise to hear he’s been confirmed today.

Buemi, aged 20, is Switzerland’s first F1 driver since Jean-Denis Deletraz finished 15th at the Nurburgring in 1995.

Buemi’s confirmation leaves potentially just one place left to be filled for 2009 in the second Toro Rosso. The team is understood to be choosing between Takuma Sato and Sebastien Bourdais, but needs the second driver to bring sponsorship to the team.

Any remaining seats depends on whether a buyer is found for Honda’s F1 team.

See the full, updated 2009 F1 drivers and teams line-up

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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14 comments on “Sebastien Buemi confirmed as Toro Rosso driver for 2009”

  1. Disappointing, although not unexpected. I really think they’d do better with a Le Seb/Sato lineup.

  2. I have to say that the high turn over rate in F1 is a bit disturbing. Very few drivers seem to last more that a few years if a year at all.

  3. Jess,

    You do have a point. However, just remember that last season was the first in God knows how long where all of the drivers who were on the grid for the season opener were also still there at season’s end (except for Super Aguri, via no fault of the drivers). Contrast that to even 2007 when there were several changes, and perhaps we should question if some drivers are too secure….

  4. StrFerrari4Ever
    9th January 2009, 21:57

    well me being a toro rosso fan i think his a great addition but i agree with keith when he said in other atricles he needed another year in gp2 he didnt really show pace hopefully in f1 he will show us what his all about as for the other seat well Button i dont think thats gonna happen Sato maybe to ressurect his career and bring in sponsors and dont get me wrong Bourdais great driver but he didnt quite cut it with me last season i know everyone is saying give him one more year to show what his got but i dont think so.

  5. Oh dear. Good luck to him anyway. Money before talent (and I’ll be happy to be proved wrong by him) especially more so in these difficult financial times. Perhaps we should hope he proves a sensational racer, or crasher, kind of like Vettel before he got his act together.

  6. I too was hoping for a Sato/Bourdais lineup, though it’s been apparent for some time now that Buemi would be getting one of those seats. Oh well. I just wish they’d hurry up and make a decision about Bourdais. I think he performed well enough in 2008 to justify a drive for 2009. Well enough that I think it would be a mistake not to give him another chance.

    I’m not sure what to make of Buemi though. As others have said he didn’t exactly set the GP2 world on fire, and he probably should be spending another season there. But he seems to be running very well in recent testing with STR. Have to wait and see I guess.

    1. If only it were about talent rather than money. But then again that’s my own private pipe dream…

  7. If it was a “facts and stats” article, the headline would be, “Toro Rosso breaks the record of most consecutive Sebastians”…

    Well, seriously, Buemi might be good, but he is far behind Di Grassi, Senna, Grosjean or even Maldonado, in terms of GP2 pace, and doesn’t have Sato, Bourdais or even Pantano’s experience…

    It seems money is by far his most important contribution for the team… as Chaz said, I’ll be happy if they prove me wrong

  8. If it was a “facts and stats” article, the headline would be, “Toro Rosso breaks the record of most consecutive Sebastians”…

    Indeed, Daniel. Good luck to Buemi – the latest in a string of Sebastians! :D

  9. Finally someone uglier than Kubica

  10. bialy, i imagine you are a girl. This is not a beauty contest.
    The guy is fast, and we know what sato and bourdois are able to do.
    Give all the new guys a chance, and if they can not be up to the job, send them to le mans, or the dtm.
    I like these austrians from red bull already.

  11. I’ll be dissappointed if Sato gets the other seat. With Honda potentially gone we could be looking at 18 seats in F1 this year and in my opionion there’s more than 18 drivers deserving of an F1 seat at the moment. So I find it dissappointing given the lack of seats that drivers such as Piquet, Sato and the unproven Buemi should be taking up seats while drivers who in my opinion have much more potential such as Pantano, Senna, Bourdais and Button are all left on the sidelines.

  12. No surprise there but cant understand why he gets that seat? He wasnt impressive at all in Gp2.

  13. terrie cairnes
    11th January 2009, 14:45

    The seat should have gone to Pantano.He has more than proved his worth.What has Buemi done.Bourdais sato Senna and Digrassi are also exceptional drivers.Why not a seat for them.It should not be about how fast or how much money someone can bring.There should be a bigger picture.Experience and talent

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