Scuderia Toro
Rosso, has confirmed that Sébastien Bourdais will drive for
the team again this season, joining Swiss driver Sébastien
Buemi in the Ferrari-powered cars. It will be the twenty
nine year old Frenchman's second season in Formula 1.
After winning the
ChampCar single seater series for four consecutive years
Bourdais made the switch to F1 last year with the Italian
outfit but had a difficult season, collecting just four
points (two each for seventh places in Australia and and
Belgium) compared to his team mate Sebastian Vettel's 35
points. However the Frenchman has shown very good pace in
winter testing with the team and gets the nod over former
Toyota and Super Aguri driver Takuma Sato.
Commenting on the
announcement, Team Principal Franz Tost, said: "we are
pleased that Sébastien will be with us again for another
season. After one year with Toro Rosso, we expect him to
profit from the experience he gained last season. He now
knows the F1 environment, the race tracks and the team. In
addition, the slick tyres, which make a comeback this year,
should suit his driving style very well. Therefore he will
tackle the coming season with much more experience under his
belt. This will be especially valuable given that our other
driver, Sébastien Buemi, is an F1 rookie, who has come up
through the ranks of the Red Bull Junior Driver programme.”
“It has been a very
long and difficult winter, but now the waiting is finally
over and I am really excited about tackling my second season
with Scuderia Toro Rosso,” said Bourdais. “I would like to
thank Red Bull and Dietrich Mateschitz for this opportunity
to continue with a team that made so much progress last
year. Now, I can focus on preparing for the coming season.
It promises to be a very interesting one, thanks to all the
rule changes and I’m also looking forward to establishing a
good relationship with my new team-mate, Sébastien Buemi, to
ensure both of us do the best possible job for the team and
for Red Bull.”
