Bourdais to secure second Toro Rosso seat

[bblocker68]

From F1 Live:

Reports in the Swiss and French press on Thursday suggest Sebastien Bourdais will shortly be confirmed as Toro Rosso's second race driver for the 2009 season.

The 29-year-old Frenchman raced with the Faenza-based team last year, but so far only the Swiss rookie Sebastien Buemi has been confirmed for the forthcoming season.

2009 would therefore be Bourdais' second season in Formula One, following his mixed debut when he finished the 2008 championship with just four points compared with his Red Bull-bound teammate Sebastian Vettel's 35.

It is reported by the Swiss magazine Speedweek, with close links to the team's owner Red Bull, that Toro Rosso selected Bourdais over the other candidate for the seat, Takuma Sato.

The French website sport24.

com speculated that Sato's expected personal sponsorship may have dwindled as the Japanese recession worsens.

Bourdais' manager Nicolas Todt would not confirm the news but insisted that "we are always in negotiations."

Moreover, the official website of the Ferrari-powered team is now showing Bourdais and Buemi as the drivers in the 'team' section.

© CAPSIS International
Source: GMM

[trumperZ06]

:D Good for SeaBass !!!

;) One of our monthly mag/rag's had an in depth article on Bourdais's F-1 adventure. Good read about last year...

but a little sketchy on his history and F-1 experiences.

[Nikki Katz]

Are there any links other than that site? It's reported quite a lot of speculation as fact recently. The only source seems to be a Swiss magazine I've never heard of, though it is claimed that they have close relations with Red Bull.

[Jag_Warrior]

I'm not his biggest fan, but I'd like to see him get the seat. So I hope this proves true. His other option seems to be being sent back down to the minor leagues to drive in the IRL.

[trumperZ06]

Are there any links other than that site? It's reported quite a lot of speculation as fact recently. The only source seems to be a Swiss magazine I've never heard of, though it is claimed that they have close relations with Red Bull.

:D F-1 Live.com and three or four other web sites show the same information.

[Roamy]

i would like to see SB do another year. However the new kid will send him packing

[Robinho]

i'll be interested to see how he will handle the new regs, its new for everyone so his inexperience from last year will not be an issue, plus the Red Bul familty of cars seem to be getting quicker - maybe we will finally get to see if the hype is real for Bourdais in F1, its been years in the making and i did think that to ditch him after one, not unimpressive, season would have been unreasonably harsh - i hope this proves to be true

[ioan]

I'll wait for an official press release from STR.

[woody2goody]

i'll be interested to see how he will handle the new regs, its new for everyone so his inexperience from last year will not be an issue, plus the Red Bul familty of cars seem to be getting quicker - maybe we will finally get to see if the hype is real for Bourdais in F1, its been years in the making and i did think that to ditch him after one, not unimpressive, season would have been unreasonably harsh - i hope this proves to be true

Thumbs up to that post.

Of course much of his racing experience comes from champ car with it's simpler aero and slick tyres.

I don't think his season was as bad as people said it was. I know Vettel won a race and got 35 points, but Seb lost out on around 15 points due to penalties, car failures, bad luck and a mistake or two.

Australia - 4th to 7th due to mechanical failure
Belgium - 3rd to 7th due to last lap downpour
Italy - car stalled when 4th on the grid (possible driver error)

That's 7 points from the first two and maybe 6 or 8 from Italy.

Besides, Vettel's technially had half a season more experience than Seb.

Anyway, Toro Rosso's my team to cheer for in '09 as I'm quite a big Buemi fan too. I reckon French Seb and Swiss Seb (again!!??!!!) can beat German Seb and Mark lol.

[tintop]

i would like to see SB do another year. However the new kid will send him packing

Tough luck to have Vettel and the bride of Vettel as teammates! If Bourdais can score points though, I'd hope that they keep him on, even if outshone by wunderboy due.

[tintop]

Thumbs up to that post.

Of course much of his racing experience comes from champ car with it's simpler aero and slick tyres.

I don't think his season was as bad as people said it was. I know Vettel won a race and got 35 points, but Seb lost out on around 15 points due to penalties, car failures, bad luck and a mistake or two.

Australia - 4th to 7th due to mechanical failure
Belgium - 3rd to 7th due to last lap downpour
Italy - car stalled when 4th on the grid (possible driver error)

That's 7 points from the first two and maybe 6 or 8 from Italy.

Besides, Vettel's technially had half a season more experience than Seb.

Anyway, Toro Rosso's my team to cheer for in '09 as I'm quite a big Buemi fan too. I reckon French Seb and Swiss Seb (again!!??!!!) can beat German Seb and Mark lol.

I'm normally a subscriber to you are what your record is, but I think that Bourdais (and Massa for that matter) had some tough luck last year.

[woody2goody]

I'm normally a subscriber to you are what your record is, but I think that Bourdais (and Massa for that matter) had some tough luck last year.

Well if you think about Massa probably should have won the title by 5 to 10 points last year to be honest mate.

He had the engine failure in Hungary and the fuel problem in Singapore. That's 20 points lost. Hamilton lost at least 6 or 8 from Canada.

'Seabass' will be ok this year and for a few to come I think :)

[El Libertador]

I'm glad Bourdais is retaining his seat, if he actually is. The problem with letting him go is all you have to compare him to is Vettel, and it's pretty obvious Vettel is a superstar. So while Bourdais will never be a future WDC, does STR really need a future WDC? Bourdais wasn't that far off Vettel, and I think with some luck he'll put in some good runs. They could do a lot worse than Sébastien, and as an Indy fan, I'm thankful to have one less driver in the mix for non-existant open seats...

[woody2goody]

I'm glad Bourdais is retaining his seat, if he actually is. The problem with letting him go is all you have to compare him to is Vettel, and it's pretty obvious Vettel is a superstar. So while Bourdais will never be a future WDC, does STR really need a future WDC? Bourdais wasn't that far off Vettel, and I think with some luck he'll put in some good runs. They could do a lot worse than Sébastien, and as an Indy fan, I'm thankful to have one less driver in the mix for non-existant open seats...

I think it's inevitable that people did/will compare him to Vettel. But it's easy to praise Vettel when you see 35-4 on the scoresheet. And sometimes I think journalists and pundits are willing to pick on the guy like Bourdais, Taku Sato in '05, Montoya in '05, Fisichella in '05 and '06.

If Vettel didn't win the race at Monza, would people be running Bourdais down so much? It's hard to say, but both STR drivers had bad patches last season, but Vettel came out on top in the end.

To me, the measuring stick for Bourdais was guys with similar F1 experiennce like Hamilton, Sutil, Piquet, Glock, Vettel, Kovalainen.

Obviously you can't compare him to Lewis, but I wouldn't say he did a worse job than Kovalainen did, who was frequently a row or two behind LH on the grid and at the end of races.

Sutil, I gave him a chance going into '08, he's obviously got talent, but no consistency. I would have booted him out for '09 in favour of a solid driver in Liuzzi who IMO could still do well in F1.

Glock had a good season, but at the beginning, having not driven for 4 years in a GP, was quite a way behind Trulli. TG's season mirrored Bourdais' in many ways, except he did well on the scoresheet.

And he definitely did a better job than Piquet despite the Brazilian's late season improvements.

Sebastien Buemi will be fun to watch this year, having been a fan of his for a couple of years now. I think the two STR drivers will have a very evenly matched contest in '09. I reckon we could see a little bit of the Nick Heidfeld/Robert Kubica syndrome from '06, where Nick hurried up so to speak when The Kube came along.

[52Paddy]

If this is true, then I'm happy for Seb. But he really needs to use 2009 to prove his worth. If he doesn't shine in some form this year, it will be difficult for him to stick with STR and, if he holds on in F1, it may only be with a very low rank team (which is basically Force India solely given the lack of teams.)

I do think Bourdais has pace in him but he needs to adjust to his car quicker than he did last year. I'm not knocking his 2008 performance, he was a rookie after all, regardless of Vettel. But now he's not, and he needs to show it.

[tintop]

If this is true, then I'm happy for Seb. But he really needs to use 2009 to prove his worth. If he doesn't shine in some form this year, it will be difficult for him to stick with STR and, if he holds on in F1, it may only be with a very low rank team (which is basically Force India solely given the lack of teams.)

I do think Bourdais has pace in him but he needs to adjust to his car quicker than he did last year. I'm not knocking his 2008 performance, he was a rookie after all, regardless of Vettel. But now he's not, and he needs to show it.


Clearly a make or break season

[Roamy]

Well this new kid buemi could send seb back to florida straight away and I imagine he will!!

[Knock-on]

Seb is a nice bloke from what I've seen but I just can't see him making it.

I agree that he performed better than Piquet but he could hardly have done worse.

[PolePosition_1]

I hope its true, his points scored last year is in no where near a true reflection of his performance.

He had majority of poor luck out of the two cars, and whilst vettle did beat him, the car was to his liking, and opposite to his style.

I think he could well show his true potential, one years experience in the team, and I think he is a true talent, and in new starting point for all, he could well shine through.

Would be a big shame to see him lose his place in F1. Personally I think Renault should have signed him.

Seb is a nice bloke from what I've seen but I just can't see him making it.

I agree that he performed better than Piquet but he could hardly have done worse.

Feck me! We agree on something!

In addition, I wouldn't be surprised to see Bourdais fail to complete the season (if he is retained). You just can't drive for Toro Rosso and do two full seasons, especially when you remember the way Speed & Liuzzi had to wait all through the winter of 06/07 to find out if they still had drives.

[ArrowsFA1]

Seb is a nice bloke from what I've seen but I just can't see him making it.
I agree in the sense that I can't see other teams rushing to sign him. Toro Rosso has been his only option, but I do think he'll do a decent job for them. What he needs to do to "make it" is win a GP and that's going to be impossible for STR in '09 IMHO. If Buemi outperforms him then Seb won't see out the year, but I can't see that happening.

[jens]

Regardless of whether French Seb gets the STR seat or not, I don't think his future in F1 is bright in either case. He may constantly impress and blow the Swiss Seb away, but I doubt any top team would seriously start considering him in their line-ups. One problem is that in the current youth-obsession in F1 Bourdais is simply "too old" and isn't an attractive prospect any more. Sounds harsh, but he joined F1 too late to have a proper and successful career. But at least he has been given a chance - for years people were wondering, why he was never given an F1 drive and what great things he could do if he ever got one.

[woody2goody]

I agree in the sense that I can't see other teams rushing to sign him. Toro Rosso has been his only option, but I do think he'll do a decent job for them. What he needs to do to "make it" is win a GP and that's going to be impossible for STR in '09 IMHO. If Buemi outperforms him then Seb won't see out the year, but I can't see that happening.

Unless they both win races that is ;)

STR have a problem this year. If Bourdais comes out as expected and does a better job than last year, poor Buemi may be out, and likewise the other way round.

The problem is, Vettel beat Bourdais, so if Bourdais beats Buemi the easy answer is to say Buemi's rubbish when it's obvious that's not the case.

[BDunnell]

I think Bourdais will get the seat and see out the season — in fact, he will continue to drive for STR until either the team is disbanded or another driver called Sebastian/Sebastien comes along, because this is clearly obligatory.

[ioan]

I think Bourdais will get the seat and see out the season — in fact, he will continue to drive for STR until either the team is disbanded or another driver called Sebastian/Sebastien comes along, because this is clearly obligatory.

:eek: You sure are one helluva optimist, Ben!