Scuderia Toro Rosso has announced that the highly rated German youngster Sebastian Vettel will replace the underperforming Scott Speed for the remainder of the 2007 Grand Prix season in the number 19 car.

Vettel announced his arrival in Formula 1 in no uncertain terms at this year's United States Grand Prix. Substituting for the injured Robert Kubica at the BMW Sauber team, he qualified seventh on the grid and finished eighth place to claim his first FIA F1 World Championship point in his first grand prix. At the age of 19 years and 349 days he became the youngest ever driver to claim an F1 point. He kicked off his F1 career last year when BMW Sauber employed him as third and test driver on Friday's from the Turkish Grand Prix onwards. At the time he became the youngest driver to take part in an F1 meeting.

However Vettel, who was born on 3 July 1987, has had a long association with Red Bull having joined the Red Bull Junior Team early in his early karting years at the age of 12 and has been guided by Red Bull through his Formula BMW and Formula 3 career. He won the German Formula BMW Championship in 2004 after impressively winning 18 of 20 races. Now after almost a year with the BMW Sauber grand prix team, which he has dovetailed with a programme in the World Series by Renault; now he is back in the Red Bull fold.
 

Vettel replaces American driver Scott Speed at Scuderia Toro Rosso. The Faenza-based outfit - which is run by Austrian ex-F1 star Gerhard Berger and uses Ferrari supplied engines - has been unhappy with Speed's performances. The team failed to make much progress up the grid this year.

Speed, who also graduated through the Red Bull Junior Team ranks, won the Formula Renault Eurocup and Formula German Formula Renault titles in 2004 on his way to F1. He has also raced in GP2 and the A1 series. Speed made his F1 debut with the Toro Rosso team at the beginning of last season, becoming the first American grand prix driver for more than a decade.

The American only had his contract with the team for this year renewed just prior to the start of the season, and ChampCar star Sebastian Bourdais was strongly considered for the position alongside Tonio Liuzzi. Speed took part in 28 grands prix for Toro Rosso but without collecting any points.