Sebastien Bourdais confirmed at Toro Rosso

Scuderia Toro Rosso confirmed on Friday that Sebastien Bourdais will continue as a driver for the team in 2009. After many months of speculation about his future at the team, he narrowly avoided being replaced by Japan’s Takuma Sato.

Bourdais had a difficult, and some might say, unlucky season with Toro Rosso in 2008. He was largely overshadowed by team mate Sebastian Vettel who, after some impressive showings last year which included a race win at Monza, has been promoted to the Red Bull senior team. Towards the end of the season doubts were starting to form as to whether STR would retain him, and after the conformation that the team were looking for a pay driver to fill their second seat, Sato, who fell victim to the collapse of Super Aguri, became a favourite for the seat with his Japanese backing. Bourdais managed to cling on though, and will partner rookie Sebastien Buemi in the upcoming season.

Bourdais has announced he will also be competing in this years 24 Hours of Le Mans race for Peugeot. He is the first active F1 driver to do so since fellow Frenchman Franck Montagny in 2006. STR’s decision leaves all the driver positions for 2009 filled, with the exception of the two seats at the former Honda team, who are yet to announce a buyer.

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Buemi signed for Toro Rosso seat

Scuderia Toro Rosso officially confirmed on Friday that Sebastien Buemi has been signed for a race seat at the team for the 2009 season. He replaces Sebastian Vettel who moved to the Red Bull parent team alongside Mark Webber, in response to the retirement of David Coulthard. Since then, the Swiss driver, who took up the third driver role at Red Bull last year, had become the favourite to take one of the two available seats.

“I am naturally very happy to be driving for Scuderia Toro Rosso this year,” said Buemi. “This year, I will do all I can to bring home the best possible results and to show Red Bull that the confidence it has shown in me is justified. I want to thank Red Bull for this opportunity and for all the help they have given me in my career, dating back to 2005.” The 20 year old will make his first outing as an official race driver for STR later this month in Portugal.

His 2009 teammate is yet to be confirmed, but either Sebastien Bourdais or Takuma Sato are favourites to take the job. It is possible that STR are waiting for more news from Honda, before confirming their second driver, in the hope of signing Jenson Button.

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Buemi dominates Jerez test

Sebastien Buemi has given a boost to his campaign to land a Toro Rosso seat next year, by finishing fastest at all three days of the latest test at the Jerez circuit. The Toro Rossos were once again leading the time sheets, with their only slightly modified 2008 car, but Buemi shook off competition from Sebastien Bourdais and Takuma Sato to try and prove that he is ready for an F1 race seat.

Day one of the test saw only 6 teams make an appearance. The former Honda team were forced to pull out as they were too busy talking to buyers, with Force India, Toyota and Red Bull also missing. Kimi Raikkonen made his return to the wheel of an F1 car, following the season finale. His best time, 1:20.261, put him fifth behind McLaren test drivers Gary Paffett and Pedro de la Rosa. Everyone had their running affected by rain and fog, though. Buemi led with a 1:18.74, just over half a second faster than Bourdais.

Day two, and McLaren revealed their concept 2009 car. Heikki Kovalainen joined in, alongside de la Rosa, and drove his KERS-fitted McLaren to the sixth fastest time. Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa made their off-season testing debuts, and Bourdais and Sato shared their testing duties. Neither could beat Buemi though, with Sato six tenths off his best time, and Bourdais just behind in third.

The final day of the test saw Kovalainen as the fastest man not in a Toro Rosso. His time was 0.7 seconds ahead of Raikkonen, 1 second ahead of Massa, and a further 0.3 seconds ahead of Alonso. Meanwhile, Buemi completed his hat trick with a best time of 1:17.258, just under 0.3 seconds faster than Sato.

The final tests of the year start on December 15, with teams split between Jerez and the brand new Algarve circuit in Portugal.

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Red Bull buy back Toro Rosso

Red Bull owner, Dietrich Mateschitz, has bought back the 50% stake in Toro Rosso that he sold to Gerhard Berger in 2006. The deal means that Mateschitz and Red Bull now have complete control over Toro Rosso. The move goes against the Austrian’s former plans for the team, where he intended to sell his stake in STR.

Toro Rosso had a very successful 2008 season, with both pole position and a win at their home Grand Prix being the highlight of a year where they finished above the senior Red Bull team. Despite the success, the team’s future was in doubt, with the ban on customer cars in 2010 and ever-increasing costs. If a buyer could not be found, it looked as if they may be forced to drop out, meaning, in Max Mosley’s words, that F1 would “cease to have a credible grid.” The recent success of the Italian outfit is likely to have prompted Mateschitz into the move.

Gerhard Berger has said “I am very happy that I can support Didi, who has committed himself to Formula 1 with so much dedication with the reorganisation of the team and in this process to make use of my knowledge so effectively.”

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Winter testing kicks off at Barcelona

The first test since the conclusion of the 2008 season got underway on Monday, with all but one team present. It was Toyota that sat out whilst the rest of the pack started their preparations for the 2009 season, by testing new regulations and evaluating new drivers at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona

Toro Rosso’s fight for race seats was brought to the front of the time sheets and Takuma Sato set the fastest time of the day, a 1:20.763, three tenths faster than Sebastien Buemi in the sister STR. The Italian team will continue their driver evaluation into tomorrow, where Sebastien Bourdais will join the battle. Alex Wurz was in a modified RA108, and set the third fastest time for Honda ahead of the McLaren test drivers, Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett. Robert Kubica and Christian Klien set the sixth and ninth fastest time in a radical concept BMW F1.09 car. Five-time rally champion, Sebastien Loeb, took the to wheel of the Red Bull RB3, and finished seventh fastest. Test drivers Luca Badoer and Mark Gene were out for Ferrari and tried out their KERS and former test driver for Spyker, Giedo van de Garde, was driving for Renault. Bruno Senna finally made his first appearance in an F1 car, sharing the Honda RA1O8 with fellow Brazilian and Renault test driver, Lucas di Grassi.

Testing continues into Tuesday at the Circuit de Catalunya.

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Shootout at Barcelona for Toro Rosso seats

Three drivers will be joining Scuderia Toro Rosso for their first testing duties of the off-season. Sebastien Bourdais, Sebastien Buemi and Takuma Sato will be under evaluation for the two race seats available at the Italian team, who waved goodbye to their star driver, Sebastian Vettel, at the end of the season.

Four time champ car champion, Bourdais, came under pressure mid-season for not matching up to Vettel’s results, and may now get the boot from the team if he is out-performed at the upcoming test. His rivals (Red Bull third driver, Buemi, and Sato, who also tested for STR in September following the collapse of his Super Aguri team), are both looking in very strong positions for a race seat. If rumours are to be believed, GP2 drivers Bruno Senna and Giorgio Pantano may also be in the running for a seat, and even Rubens Barrichello may be a contender for a drive, if he is forced out of Honda.

The test will take place at Barcelona next week.

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Vettel takes lead for Red Bull at Jerez

Italian Grand Prix winner, Sebastian Vettel, has set the fastest time on the third day of the Jerez test, while driving for his 2009 team, Red Bull Racing. He stopped BMW, now in the hands of Nick Heidfeld, staying at the top by just 0.1 seconds after setting a best lap of 1:18.001.

Lucas di Grassi continued with Renualt, on a day that saw frequent showers, and finished in third ahead of Pedro de la Rosa in a McLaren. Alex Wurz also continued with Honda, improving his pace to finish fifth ahead of Takuma Sato who was testing for Toro Rosso in the hope of a race seat next year, after his team, Super Aguri, withdrew before the Turkish Grand Prix. His day was made harder by the weather and his best lap was 1:19.574. Kamui Kobayashi was still out for Toyota and put Kazuki Nakajima and Williams at the bottom.

Testing at Jerez continues into Friday.

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Super Vettel takes record braking win

Sebastian Vettel has won the Italian Grand Prix after a brilliant drive from pole in his Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso. Vettel led the race comfortably, only coming under pressure once from Lewis Hamilton, before McLaren went the wrong way with a weather decision in a race that was wet from start for finish. He won the race by 12.5 seconds from McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen and BMW’s Robert Kubica, who both joined him on the podium.

The race started under safety car conditions due to the amount of standing water on the track and likelihood of accidents, meaning there would be no formation lap. Bad news for Sebastien Bourdais, as he stalled on the grid from fourth and would have to start the race a lap down. Vettel immediately pulled away from the rest of the field at the restart and started to lead by quite some distance. After a few laps David Coulthard, Giancarlo Fisichella, Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamiltion started to fight for position. Fishichella defended well in his Force India but Coulthard got past and, after a fair while, so did Raikkonen and then Hamilton.

Hamilton had made a few failed attempts to get past Raikkonen, but a few laps later he made his move and made it stick.  Coulthard ended up behind Fisichella again and, when he tried to pass, they made contact, and the Force India found itself in the barriers to become the only retiree. Meanwhile, Felipe Massa and Nico Rosberg were having a close fight, but the Ferrari came out on top for fourth place. Hamilton was now pulling away from Raikkonen and began to make his way up the field.

Seemingly on a one-stop strategy, Hamilton made some passes, and helped by the others stopping, found himself in second and catching up to Vettel. He was nearly out of fuel, though, and pitted from second. The team believed more rain was on its way, having stopped not long ago, and kept him on extreme wets. Fernando Alonso came in a few laps later and switched to intermediate tyres, the second to do so after Coulthard. Despite some shaky first laps, after a while, it proved to be the right choice.

Vettel came in for his second scheduled stop and changed to inters too. One-stopping Hamilton had no choice but to do the same and his chances of a race win were gone. The McLaren came out behind his championship rival, Felipe Massa, and looked as if he would catch him, but it wasn’t to be. All eyes were on Sebastian Vettel as he took a dominant win at Toro Rosso’s home race to become the youngest race winner ever in Formula one.

The other points went to Kovalainen, Kubica, Alonso, Nick Heidfeld, Massa, Hamilton and Mark Webber. Kimi Raikkonen and Nelson Piquet Jr rounded out the top ten. Sebastien Bourdias got past Adrain Sutil to finish 18th after starting a lap down, and set the second fastest lap of the race, after Raikkonen.

Hamilton now leads Massa by one point in the championship and with his race win, Vettel goes up to 9th place. Renault are now equal with Toyota on 41 points and Toro Rosso are one point ahead of the Red Bull senior team.

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Vettel grabs pole at incredible Monza qualifying

Sebastian Vettel has taken his, and Toro Rosso’s, maiden pole position at qualifying for tomorrows Italian Grand Prix, braking several records. Throughout qualifying, Toro Rosso, who have recently improved enough to reach Q3 for three races in a row, looked to be the only team who were together enough to cope with the torrential conditions that saw both Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton fail to get past Q2.

Vettel took pole with a lap of 1:37.555, 0.1 seconds faster than Heikki Kovalainen who will join the German on the front row. Toro Rosso were so strong, it looked as if both drivers would make the top three, but Sebastien Bourdais was beaten to third by Mark Webber, for the Red Bull senior team, who lapped a 1:38.117. Nico Rosberg was fifth for Williams and the first title contender, Felipe Massa, will start the race from sixth place. A 1:38.894 put the Brazillian 1.3 seconds slower than the Ferrari-powerd Toro Rosso on pole. Jarno Trulli will start from seventh, ahead of Fernando Alonso, Timo Glock, Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica, who failed to make the top ten.

Force India finally achieved their target for the season, and managed to get in to Q2, with Giancarlo Fisichella qualifying an impressive thirteenth, The Force India lapped 0.9 seconds faster than Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, who qualified 15th, behind David Coulthard, after struggling to keep his car out of the barriers. Lewis Hamilton was slowest in Q2, though, having made a bad decision to switch to intermediate tyres as he believed the track was drying. The final five places are taken by Rubens Barrichello, Nelson Piquet Jr, Kazuki Nakajima, Jenson Button and Adrian Sutil.

Sebastian Vettel has done an incredible thing, taking a car that was a back-marker at the beginning of the season, and putting it on pole at Toro Rosso’s home race. Perhaps more incredible is the former Minardi team, which were taken over by Toro Rosso in 2006, and who spent their whole F1 time at the back, have out-qualified Ferrari at their home race. Vettel becomes the youngest pole-sitter in F1 history.

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Sato to test for Toro Rosso

Former F1 driver, Takuma Sato, will test for Toro Rosso later this month in the hope to get back in a F1 car for 2009. Sato is Japan’s most successful racing driver, having accompanied Jenson Button at BAR for three years, before moving to Super Aguri, who folded this year at Turkey. However, with Vettel leaving for Red Bull next year, a spare seat is open at Toro Rosso, which Sato is keen to fill.

Red Bull test driver, Sebastien Buemi, will also test for Toro Rosso in late September. Buemi is the favourite to take Vettel’s seat at Toro Rosso next year, however he could line up with Sato if rumours about Sebastian Bourdais seat being under pressure are true. Buemi is currently competing in this years GP2 series, running fifth, and signed as Red Bull’s reserve driver in January

Team principal Franz Tost has not given anything away, saying “Buemi is an obvious candidate, because not only is he already part of the Red Bull family, he is currently performing well in the GP2 series. As for Sato, he has proved worthy of a place in Formula One and would be a good fit with the Red Bull spirit, while his recent F1 experience would be undoubtedly valuable to our team.”

The test will take place at Jerez in Spain on September 17th and 18th.

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