OFFICIAL: This means Buemi will be out of STR by mid-season 2011 :)

[ShiftingGears]

If Buemi doesn't up his game and Ricciardo does exceptionally well in Friday Practice, yes, he probably will be out.

[jens]

I cant think of one memorable Buemi moment/performance in his F1 career AT ALL . . . .

Interesting that the most impressive moment I can remember from Buemi's F1 career so far, is his very first F1 race, where he finished 7th (although with the help of a lot of attrition) and beat Bourdais.

Also after his third race (China) Buemi got a fair bit of praise and was considered to be a serious future prospect. Someone (guess that was Garry Walker) considered him to be already a match to Vettel.

Overall another example of a driver to show that a hazy early promise means nothing in the long run. Especially as he didn't have a groundbreaking junior record to back it up.

[Valve Bounce]

Complete waste of Ricciardo's time. He needs to be in a race seat NOW. With proper pre-season testing, he can turn some heads in 2011. He is ready NOW. Screw GP2.

This

[UltimateDanGTR]

BMW gave Vettel his breakthrough into F1 while RBR were cocooning Coulthard.

very true...but STR took him on for a full time race seat to develop him after that. and it worked....

[ioan]

very true...but STR took him on for a full time race seat to develop him after that. and it worked....

BMW wanted to have him for a full race seat too however Red Bull had an option on him and snapped him up after his first F1 race with BMW.
My point is only that RBR didn't give him his break through BMW did, and even when he joined the RBR family they only put him in an STR.

[UltimateDanGTR]

BMW wanted to have him for a full race seat too however Red Bull had an option on him and snapped him up after his first F1 race with BMW.
My point is only that RBR didn't give him his break through BMW did, and even when he joined the RBR family they only put him in an STR.

In that case-we are agreed. My point was that STR served a purpose for Vettel-letting him develop before going on to better things

[woody2goody]

It's a shame, as this trend of getting rid of drivers mid-season does nothing for STR's credibility, and Buemi does have the knack of producing solid results when you least expect it.

Alguersuari is probably a better prospect than Buemi, but the Swiss will be in his third season in 2011 and will surely raise his game accordingly.

As for Ricciardo, he hasn't been great in the few races I've seen him in, but he can obviously handle F1 machinery. I really think he should be in GP2 racing full time, as it never helps the current race drivers when another guy is taking their track time.

Paul Di Resta undoubtedly is a good driver, but I think Force India dropped the ball by taking time off of Liuzzi and Sutil, especially as both of their performances dropped off a fair bit in the second half of the season.

[woody2goody]

BMW wanted to have him for a full race seat too however Red Bull had an option on him and snapped him up after his first F1 race with BMW.
My point is only that RBR didn't give him his break through BMW did, and even when he joined the RBR family they only put him in an STR.

BMW were sorted for drivers at the time though. In 2007 Heidfeld was in the form of his career so far, and Kubica may as well be considered as an equal of Vettel anyway.

[Sonic]

.

Paul Di Resta undoubtedly is a good driver, but I think Force India dropped the ball by taking time off of Liuzzi and Sutil, especially as both of their performances dropped off a fair bit in the second half of the season.

This

Either stick Paul in the race seat or let the race drivers get on with their work.

[gloomyDAY]

Complete waste of Ricciardo's time. He needs to be in a race seat NOW. With proper pre-season testing, he can turn some heads in 2011. He is ready NOW. Screw GP2.

Preach it brother!