sebastien buemi f1 news - Pain Paillasse®

Toro Rosso’s reserve driver Jean-Eric Vergne will be driving the STR-Ferrari during Friday’s first session this weekend in Korea. The Frenchman who drove in the out-of-season young-driver test in Abu Dhabi will take Jaime Alguersuari’s seat as Sébastien Buemi was the last driver to be replaced for free practice.

Both regular drivers will retain their seats in testing for the new F1 venue in India at the end of the month, but Sébastien will be missing the first Abu Dhabi free practice. Team boss Franz Tost will be referring to the driver championship standing to enter the Toro Rosso drivers in the first Brazilian session practice.

This is a strong reminder of the competition within the Italian team where the championship position of each driver will be considered for the right to participate fully in Brazil. Although Sébastien knows that he will be driving the Toro Rosso for the remainder of the season he could be missing first practice in Brazil compromising his last opportunity to excel this season. He is now trailing the Spaniard by 3 points (13 to 16) in their internal competition and has just 3 more races to improve his position before the South American trip.

The first practice may have less importance than sessions 2 and 3, but as long as Toro Rosso is still in a fight opposing the Sauber and Force India in the Constructor’s Championship, we can expect continued development of the STR up to the end. Obviously, driver experience will be a means of optimising ascent in that standing. Vergne, who is a product of Red Bull’s young-driver programme, is undoubtedly fast, but one of the regular drivers will be relying on the young driver with feedback to progress in a racing weekend.

Until he lost a wheel after the first pit stop 12 laps into the Japanese GP, Sébastien showed good speed and a team leading role. Could he and his car carry the same disposition to the state-of-the-art Yeongam circuit? He has also shown his ability to control his Toro Rosso in slippery conditions - and lack of overall grip is the main problem in Korea! A good weekend will evidently mean points, not only to distance himself from joint 15th position holder Mexican Sergio Perez, but also to close down on his team mate Alguersuari. There is no doubt that the Korean GP holds important contests, both for the scuderia and for the Vaudois with his own personal challenge: to beat his team mate.