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Both the new Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso STR4 cars were classified in the points in Melbourne today with Swiss youngster Sebastien Buemi collecting seventh place on his GP debut just ahead of team mate Sebastien Bourdais.

Yesterday Buemi and Bourdais had qualified the new STR4 car, which was making its race debut this weekend, in 16th and 20th positions on the grid for today's Australian Grand Prix. A very steady drive in his first ever grand prix on the temporary track in Melbourne had seen Buemi collecting the final championship point in 8th place, with his team mate Bourdais, a former triple ChampCar title winner in America, crossing the finish line one place outside the points.

However much later in the day the race stewards decided to exclude the third place finishing Toyota of Jarno Trulli for a safety car infringement and his disappearance from the final classification promoted Buemi to seventh place where he collected 2 points, while Bourdais moved up into the top-8 to claim the final championship point. Three points for Scuderia Toro Rosso puts the Faenza-based team into a provisional 5th place in the F1 Constructors' Championship, equal on points with Williams-Toyota, after 1 round.

“First race first point, so I’m very happy," commented Buemi at the end of the race before prior to receiving the news that he had been moved up the order by one place. "Maybe we had a bit of luck with the accidents, but even without that we were not too bad and our strategy worked well and I am very happy with the way my race went. I made a mistake when I was alongside Massa, hitting the limiter button, but when he put the KERS on you could really see the advantage it brings. I am pleased with what happened today because to get a point in the bag at the first race takes some pressure off. The team did a fantastic job considering that we have not had much testing time with the car before coming here. It’s a dream really and not the result I expected on Friday. It shows we have a good potential.”

“I had a very tough first part, as after just three laps, the Option tyres were graining," commented Buemi's team mate Bourdais, who finished the race in ninth position, but then gained an extra place in the classification and with it the final championship point. "Several cars passed me so the team called me in and the second stint was not too bad. When the Safety Car came out, it was clear we had to fuel to finish. A few more Safety Cars would therefore have helped as I did a final stint of 36 laps and in the early part the car felt a bit like a caravan with all that fuel weight on board. I had a very big moment where I was lucky not to crash and then I had a seat belt come loose and I had to find a way of locking myself into position in the car. I think we should be a bit stronger in Malaysia next weekend.”

"Buemi, first race one point: it’s the start of a good career, as scoring a point on one’s debut shows the driver is talented and it’s thanks to Red Bull that he is in our driver pool," said Team Principal Franz Tost at the finish of the race this afternoon when Buemi had initially taken 8th place. "He qualified well and with a bit of luck he might have made it to Q2, so we’ll be aiming for that in Malaysia. He was up to tenth after one lap and raced without making mistakes, defending his position, having an interesting fight with Rosberg. He is on the right path and I think we have a really good driver in our line up.”