Sebastien Buemi Post Melbourne News Watch

Just a quick post today to mention a couple of articles which included Sebastien Buemi.

First Sporting reflections had a write up on the race, which included Buemi as one of the weekends standouts, saying:

Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi, a 20-year old in his debut F1 race, showed a nice combination of speed, consistency and maturity - at one stage seriously challenging the Ferrari of former world champion Kimi Raikkonen - which allowed him to bring his Toro Rosso home an impressive seventh while others conspired to remove themselves from contention.

Fine praise indeed, but well deserved (in my opinion). Maturity is an interesting word, because that's a feeling I've gotten from Buemi since he arrived on the F1 scene. He handles himself very well, whether off the track or on it.

The other article was by Motor Sport Magazine, which rated the F1 drivers' performance in Melbourne. Sebastien Buemi was given 8 out of 10 along with the following comment:

A great first race for the only rookie on the grid. Stayed out of trouble and importantly beat his team-mate. 8/10

Interesting, Buemi was equal 4th based on the ratings. He was behind only Lewis Hamilton (9.5), Jenson Button (9), Nico Rosberg (8.5) and was level with Fernando Alonso (who also had 8). Fine company indeed.

Well that's all, I just wanted to share what I'd been reading about Sebasiten Buemi.

Sebastien Buemi Ignored By The Chequered Flag

I'm a big fan of the BBC's The Chequered Flag Formula 1 podcast and I've really missed it over the winter.

After a great opening race in Melbourne, which was full of great racing, clashes and which had a fairytale ending, I listened to their post race podcast with excitement. It was a great podcast as usual, but I was disappointed that they didn't find time to even mention Sebastien Buemi's great performance on debut.

I understand that there were many big stories, which have to take precedence - things such as:

• The amazing Brawn GP one two finish
• The clash between Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica, which cost them both a place on the podium (and the excellent performance of both drivers before that)
• Lewis Hamiliton's fantastic third, in a car that no one thought could make it into the points
• Toyota's charge through the pack, after starting in pit lane.
• Jarno Trulli's penalty which cost him a place on the podium
• The effectiveness of KERS in overtaking and defending positions
• Ferrari's horrible weekend

I've probably missed some stories too. So I understand that Sebastien Buemi and Toro Rosso are not going to be a big story or mentioned at the top of the podcast.

However, I'm pretty sure that last year, the Chequered Flag post race podcast went through all the F1 drivers, at least briefly. This time round they totally ignored the STR drivers (and Force India's drivers as well for that matter).

That's disappointing in it's own right, but given that Sebastien Buemi scored in his first race (one of only 69 drivers to ever do this), soundly beat his more experienced teammate, and ran as high as 4th at one point, it's disappointing that they didn't mention Buemi for his achievement.

Here's hoping that The Chequered Flag covers all the drivers in future.

Sebastien Buemi 69th F1 Driver To Score On Debut

Further to my post on Sebastien Buemi's amazing first F1 race, I read a short post from F1Fanatic, which complimented Buemi on his performance in Melbourne. The article basically says that Sebastien Buemi did a great job and that no more could have been asked of him.

The part of the article that really stood out for me (and made me write about it here) was the revelation that Sebastien Buemi is the 69th Formula 1 driver to score points in his debut race.

I knew that Buemi was amongst a select group who had scored on debut, but I had no idea how many other F1 drivers were in that group. The article also lists some of the current drivers who are also in that select group:

He is the 69th driver to score a point on his debut, joining current drivers Sebastien Bourdais, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen, Nico Rosberg, Timo Glock and Mark Webber.

That’s interesting, but I’m not sure it really means anything. We have a couple of World Champions (Hamilton and Raikkonen), a rising star (Vettel), some very good drivers (Webber and Rosberg), but we also Glock and Bourdais, who despite being good solid drivers, haven’t exactly set the world alight.

So what does it all mean? Probably nothing, but it’s interesting nonetheless and a good achievement by Sebastien Buemi.

Sebastien Buemi Scores Points In First F1 Grand Prix

Sebastien Buemi scored points in his debut Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne today, finishing in 8th place, then getting promoted to 7th place when Jarno Trulli was penalised for overtaking Lewis Hamilton while the safety car was out.

In the words of the BBC commentators, Sebastien Buemi did a:

spectacularly good jobs for a rookie.

Sebastien Finishes 6th - False Alarm

I got a little excited when the TV shots seemed to show BUE in 6th place shortly after the finish. I thought that perhaps Sebastien had managed to overtake a couple of cars in the short run to the finish line, after the safety car left the circuit.

However, that was incorrect - I guess it must have showed that way because Sebastien overtook some drivers after the receiving the chequered flag.

The Battle With Buemi's STR Teammate

Sebastien won his battle with his Toro Rosso teammate Sebastien Bourdais, although it was a close thing. Bourdais managed to finish 8th (after Jarno Trulli's penalty), only one place and 0.2 seconds behind Buemi.

Having said that, Bourdais was helped by the yellow flag at the end of the race and was well behind Buemi for most of the race. The BBC commentators said that Buemi was:

making Bourdais look like a bit of a monkey.

That's a bit much, but it's true that he did much better than Bourdais for much of the race.

As for the poll we held, about which STR driver would finish first at Melbourne, we only had 4 votes, 3 of which were for Sebastien Buemi (the other one was for One driver won't finish).

Lack Of Air Time For Sebastien Buemi

Quite predictably, Sebastien received very little air time, with all the attention up the front of the race, on Brawn GP, and the other contenders.

Sebastien did pop up a couple of times, including when he was holding off Nico Rosberg's Williams (inspiring the comment above) and late in the race when Timo Glock's Toyota went around him rather easily (turns out Buemi's soft compound tyres were degrading very badly by then).

There have been several stories in press about Sebastien's excellent result, including Buemi never expected points on debut and Buemi makes his point.

Could Sebastien Buemi Be Promoted To 3rd Place?

Don't forget that several teams have appealed against the ruling by stewards that the diffusers of Brawn, Toyota and Williams are legal. If the appeal was upheld and the diffusers were declared illegal, there exists a possibility, however unlikely, that those three teams would be stripped of their points.

If that were to happen, Lewis Hamilton would be the winner, Fernando Alonso would finished second and Sebastien Buemi would be third!

Whilst that would be amazing for Sebastien, I think it would be highly unlikely that the sport's governing body would be that harsh with any punishment, even if the appeal was upheld. It would also be a terrible shame for the sport after the good news story of Brawn GP winning after coming so close to extinction. Races should be won on the road, not in the court room.

Still it's worth mentioning as a possible, if highly unlikely, scenario.

Final Thoughts

It was a great start to Sebastien Buemi's career as an F1 driver. He kept his head, drove well and made the most of his situation. Scoring points was beyond anyone's expectation. Good work Sebastien!

Sebastien Buemi Qualifies 16th In Melbourne

Sebastien Buemi qualified 16th for his first Formula 1 Grand Prix, in Melbourne Australia. Although for many F1 drivers, 16th would not be considered particularly good, it was actually a very promising result for Sebastien.

First, Sebastien came within a hair's breadth of making it through to Q2. He finished just 0.05 seconds behind Lewis Hamiliton. Had he managed to knock Lewis Hamilton out, it would have been a huge result for the rookie.

Second, and most importantly, Sebastien finished ahead of his STR teammate, Sebastien Bourdais, who qualified in the 20th and last position. Given that the car is not capable of challenging the leaders of the pack at the moment, Sebastien Buemi's main race is with his more experienced teammate. If you've missed it, there's a poll in the sidebar about which Toro Rosso driver will finish first in Melbourne.

Sebastien Buemi Boosted By Qualifying Form

According the ITV website, Sebastian Buemi was boosted by his qualifying form. The article carried several quotes from Sebastien:

I think we did quite a good job with what we had and missed out on Q2 by half a tenth

I am quite happy, as these days have been something of a test session for us and we improved the car quite a lot from yesterday morning through to now.

As Sebastien points out, STR are behind the other teams because of the limited testing they managed in the STR4 over the break. They are also waiting on some 'fresh development parts', so the fact that Sebastien almost made it into Q2 on his first attempt was positive news for the team.

Buemi also talks about what his first Qualifying session was like:

I have to say I found the pace at which qualifying happens rather quick!

You go out, you come back, you change tyres, you go out again.

You need to stay relaxed.

For a spectator, it's all pretty fast paced. A lot goes on in a short time. For an F1 driver, it would be unimaginably hectic.

I'm sure experienced drivers such as Fernando Alonso, are cool calm and collected, because they've don't it so often and they can focus their concentration with intensity on the areas which really need it, without being distracted.

For a new driver such as Sebastien Buemi, it must be a confusing experience with so many things going on and distractions.

To out-qualify his more experienced teammate and to almost go through to Q2 is a great result for Sebastien Buemi. I hope he has a good and clean race tomorrow and once again beats Bourdais - that would be another very good result for him.

Sebastien Buemi - Melbourne Grand Prix - Friday Practice

The big news coming out of the practice sessions on Friday 27th March at the Melbourne F1 Grand Prix was the surprising pace of the Williams team. Not many people were expecting that! For me however, as much as I'd like to see a grand old team like Williams become successful again, my main focus is on Sebastien Buemi.

Sebastien Buemi was the first driver to complete a lap in P1, meaning he was in position 1 for a very brief amount of time. I know that means less than nothing, but must have been a good feeling for him to see his time up there.

Unfortunately however, Sebastien finished P2 with the slowest time, a couple of seconds behind the Williams, and had this to say (from www.formula1.com):

My first F1 practice session and I had a lot of new things to learn and to deal with. It was not too bad, we tried various changes and improved the car lap by lap. The second session got off to quite a good start, but later we had some difficulty with finding the right set-up. Given our lack of testing with this car, today was like a test session which we used to learn more about the car. It’s my first time at this circuit and I still need to get used to it and I learned a lot, but there is still plenty to do to improve tomorrow.

In the battle with his STR teammate, Sebastien Bourdais, Buemi finished the day slightly behind. Bourdais finished in position 16, four places and about 0.6 seconds better than Sebastien Buemi. However, in P1, the roles were reversed, with Sebastien Buemi in position 15 and Bourdais in position 19, 0.7 seconds behind.

At the end of the day, it doesn't mean much - Qualifying tomorrow is much more important. It's shaping up to be a hard session for Sebastien Buemi and Toro Rosso, with it looking like they'll struggle to get into Q2.

NY Times F1 Blog Don't Fancy Sebastien Buemi

I've just been reading the New York Times Formula 1 Blog's look at the 2009 F1 driver lineup and they aren't too flattering toward Toro Rosso driver Sebastien Buemi.

Joe Saward from grandprix.com and Brad Spurgeon from IHT discuss him as follows:

SAWARD: I don’t understand why Buemi is there. He has won nothing significant in his career.

SPURGEON: Buemi, I think, is the first driver I can remember in the recent history of F1 to get a drive in the sport after never having won a racing car championship in his whole career. He won karting titles, but nothing in five or six years of cars! But he has Red Bull backing.

They go on to criticise Red Bull's record of choosing drivers and generally agree that Sebastien Buemi was only chosen because Red Bull have already invested so much in him.

I can't say that their views are flat out wrong, but I do think they are a little harsh.

Sure, Sebastien hasn't won a title in five or six years of cars, but he's been constantly improving, then stepping up to the next level, then improving, etc. He's not far off the pace. That's a far cry from winning championships, but I think he's got enough about him to be a successful F1 driver.

I'm not saying he'll be as good as Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel, but there's something about him that I think is promising.

Time will tell. What do you think?

Battle Of The STR Teammates

Today I read a preview of the 2009 Formula 1 World Championship, by Totoroche, which includes a look at STR’s chances for the upcoming season.

There’s nothing too startling in the preview - like most previews, it says that Toro Rosso will be hard pressed to emulate their success of 2008. That’s probably a no brainer. However I want to mention the preview because of the previews of the STR drivers.

Of Sebastien Buemi it says:

Buemi competed with some distinction in GP2 last year, and arrives in Formula 1 on the back of some impressive early testing form. To expect more than a point or three would, however, probably be unreasonable.

Once again, that’s nothing too startling. That matches with what most people are saying, but I found the part about “a point or three” being a reasonable expectation quite interesting. I guess that’s probably about right. If Sebastien Buemi scores more than a handful of points, then that would probably be a successful season.

That said, it’s shaping up as an unpredictable season and it could be possible that Sebastien will eclipse that if things fall his way – but that would be considered a great success.

More interesting is Totoroche’s analysis of Sebastien Bourdais (Sebastien Buemi’s STR teammate), which basically says that Bourdais is underrated, was unlucky last year and is deserving of a second chance in F1. I actually agree wholeheartedly with this. They go on to say about Bourdais:

Expect him to have the measure of the other Seb this time.

So Totoroche predicts that Sebastien Bourdais will beat Sebastien Buemi in the battle of the STR teammates in 2009. I actually think that Sebastien Buemi will prove to have what it takes to see off this challenge, although I think it will be a hard fought battle and I expect Bourdais to get off to a better start due to his experience.

What do you think? Leave a comment to let me know who you think will win the battle of the Sebs.

Melbourne Form Card For Sebastien Buemi

I'm a big fan of the ITV F1 site's Form Card that they regularly post before each F1 Grand Prix, giving a run down of each driver's current form and their expectations for the race.

ITV have just released their Form Card for Melbourne. Once again, it's a great read (especially the first one, because it means that the season opener is just about to start).

Of course, this year, I'm extremely interested in what they had to say about Sebastien Buemi, coming into his first F1 race. Here's what they said:

Sebastian Vettel's move to Red Bull has left a big void at Toro Rosso, and Buemi is the man chosen to fill it. He doesn't arrive with the same glowing reputation or (justified) hype as his predecessor, but Red Bull clearly has plenty of faith in him. Buemi has accumulated plenty of testing mileage, although relatively little of it has been in the 2009 car.

I guess there's nothing surprising in there. I think it sums it up pretty well - although I was wondering if they'd mention the fact that Sebastien is accustomed to racing on slicks, while the rest will have been used to racing on the grooved tyres. Perhaps, it won't be an issue for the majority of drivers.

Anyway, if you read this before the race, please answer the poll in the sidebar about whether Sebastien Buemi will beat his Toro Rosso team mate in the Melbourne Grand Prix.

Change Of Number For Sebastien Buemi

As I reported in an early post, Sebastien Buemi was originally scheduled to be driver number 11 in this year's Formula One Championship. However, this has now been changed to number 12, after Toro Rosso requested a swap with Sebastien Bourdais.

News of the story can be found over on the f1-site.com website, where they also report on a number of other changes (Massa and Raikkonen swap numbers and Brawn GP drop to the bottom of the list). Of the Buemi / Bourdais swap, they say:

Sebastien Bourdais’s senior status means he will now take number 11, with rookie team mate Sebastien Buemi numbered 12

I guess this makes sense. Sebastien Buemi is the rookie driver and it's fair enough for Bourdais to be given the first number as he raced with the team last year.

However, although I can see it makes sense, part of me thinks it's a little unfair, because STR had no doubts appointing Sebastien Buemi as a driver, while they did have doubts about Bourdais.

Don't get me wrong, because I actually like Sebastien Bourdais and I'm glad STR stuck with him. I also think it's fair enough that Sebastien Buemi has to pay his dues. But at the end of the day, Sebastien Buemi was STR's clear first choice driver.

What do you think?

Will Sebastien Buemi Beat Bourdais In Melbourne?

In the previous post, I included the following quote from Sebastien about his expectations in the lead up to the opening F1 race in Melbourne, his first race in Formula One:

I don't have any expectations. I want to finish the race. That's my focus. Saying that scoring points wouldn't be fantastic would be a lie, but it is not my main objective. I want to understand a lot about the car. And in the past Melbourne has always been a race with many accidents and casualties, so to finish the race is already a good point.

What he doesn't mention in that quote, but which he has mentioned in the past, is that one of his goals this season is to beat his Scuderia Toro Rosso team mate, Sebastien Bourdais.

Given that the Melbourne Grand Prix is upon us, I thought I'd run a poll on how Sebastien Buemi will perform. Instead of a poll asking would he finish, would he be in the points, on the podium etc, I thought I'd ask:

Will Sebastien Buemi beat Sebastien Bourdais in Melbourne?

This question is probably more realistic – most people agree that he's highly unlikely to finish on the podium. Of course, now he'll probably prove me wrong!

Having said that, it will be no easy feat for him. Sebastien Bourdais is a pretty good driver and most importantly, he's been to Melbourne and done it before. As talented as Sebastien Buemi is, he is going into his very first race and that's a huge readjustment for him.

Anyway we'll see how the poll goes. This site has very low traffic at the moment, so we may not have anyone respond! Here's hoping. If you come across this post (before the race!) please vote in the sidebar.

Also, let me know your thoughts: How do you think Sebastien Buemi will perform in his first F1 race?

Sebastien Buemi's First Race Approaches

Okay, time to ramp things up. The 2009 Formula 1 Season starts in 6 days time and Sebastien Buemi will be in the thick of it. So as the season’s start draws close, what has Sebastien been up to?

Sebastien Buemi’s Been A Busy Boy

According to the Scuderia Toro Rosso website, Buemi’s Been A Busy Boy doing a promotional event called Red Bull Crashed Ice in Lausanne, Switzerland, followed by a trip back to the STR base in Faenza:

I was there for a seat fitting, as at the moment, we only had one seat made to measure for me and we can’t head off to the other side of the world without a spare.

Then he took a trip to Bicester in the UK to learn the Albert Park Lake circuit in a simulator:

I’m here to learn the Melbourne circuit which is one of the ones on the calendar that I have never raced at before, so it should be an interesting session.

So, Sebastien Buemi has been a busy boy indeed – and now, he’s off to Melbourne!

It Will Be Special, Strange, It Will Be Everything

Sebastien Buemi has managed time to give an interview to Formula1.com, discussing his hopes for the coming season. Amongst the topics covered are:

• Recent testing of the STR4.
• The difference between the STR3 and STR4.
• The late arrival of the STR4.
• Sebastien's expectations for Melbourne.

On the last point, Sebastien says:

I don’t have any expectations. I want to finish the race. That’s my focus. Saying that scoring points wouldn’t be fantastic would be a lie, but it is not my main objective. I want to understand a lot about the car. And in the past Melbourne has always been a race with many accidents and casualties, so to finish the race is already a good point.

So Sebastien just wants to finish the race - a very sensible goal. It's going to be an unpredictable grand prix, where anything could happen, but Sebastien just wants to keep his head down and make sure he gets to the finish line. With that sort of attitude he may be able to ride his luck if things work out in his favour, but if he went in expecting more, he'd be more likely to miss any chances that come his way.

Sebastien's Spoof Diary

I recently stumbled across what appeared to be Sebastien Buemi's diary recording his experience at the F1 season opening race at Melbourne. However, as I read it, it quickly became apparent that it was only a spoof, with paragraphs such as:

No, I was wrong, they are on the same flight, but once again I don't see them on the plane. They all disappear through a curtain. I feel sorry for them, as I am lucky enough to sit near the back of the plane with the rest of my team. I get a middle seat, which is neat, as I can talk to two people either side of me. And it's handy for the toilets too.

I won't mention the site I found it on, as it presented the diary as real and missed the end of it! I later found the complete diary at F1-live.com along with an explanation that the spoof diary was released courtesy of Toro Rosso's imaginative press department (although I can't find the original if it's available on line).

On To The Race

Well, enough with the preliminaries already! Bring on the race! I can't wait for the Melbourne Grand Prix on Sunday - and I really hope that Sebastien Buemi gives a good performance in his first race!

Sebastien Buemi Personality Hints

In my last post, I covered some interesting facts about Sebastien Buemi, the newest F1 star, about to start his first Formula One season with Scuderia Toro Rosso.

Although that post helps us understand a little bit more about Sebastien Buemi's background, it doesn't really give any insight into his personality. Therefore, I'm going to look at an interview he gave earlier this year, which will give us a little more insight into Sebastien.

Don't expect to find out Sebastien's favourite food or the last movie he saw – I'm not talking about that sort of personality. I'm talking about his personality as a F1 driver. Is he aggressive? Is he confident? Is he arrogant or humble? You get the picture.

The personality of a Formula 1 driver is a very important part of whether they'll succeed or end up as someone who just makes up the numbers.

The interview was given on the ITV F1 site about Sebastien Buemi's expectations for his first season. Amongst the quotes given are the following:

“You have to have self-confidence and put yourself in the best possible situation.”

“But you have to keep your feet on the ground and not get depressed if the results don't come immediately.”

He concedes that it will be a tough season and talks about being “perfectly prepared”.

Sebastien comes across as a very grounded and levelheaded individual, although when he talks about his minimum expectations, he says:

“For me personally, I would at least want to be quicker than my team-mate.”

He's obviously very confident as well.

As we've seen many times in the past with F1 drivers (most recently with Lewis Hamilton), there's a fine line between confidence and arrogance. What some people perceive as arrogance is often just the complete confidence that's needed to perform at such a high level.

So Sebastien Buemi seems confident on one hand and level headed on the other hand, both admirable and necessary qualities in a Formula 1 driver. Has he got the balance right? Only time will tell.

Sebastien Buemi - Interesting Facts

Because Sebastien Buemi is relatively unknown, I figured I’d go looking for some information about Formula 1’s hottest new driver. On finding it, I thought I’d share it here in a quick post.

Here are some of the more interesting details about Sebastien Buemi:

• Sebastien was born on October 31, 1988, making him 20 years old as at the time of writing. That makes him the 11th youngest driver to start an F1 grand prix, assuming he starts the Melbourne Grand Prix as planned.


• Sebastien was born in Aigle, Switzerland, which has a population of 8,100 people, although he now lives in Bahrain.


• He is 177cm tall and weighs 62kg.


• Sebastien started with a very successful career in karting, winning 5 championships between 1998 and 2003.


• In 2004, Sebastien moved to Formula BMW (Germany), finishing 3rd. In 2005, he finished went one better, finishing 2nd.


• In 2006, Sebastien moved to the Formula Three Euroseries, where he finished 12th. The following year (2007), he finished second.


• In 2008, Sebastien drove for Arden International in GP2, winning 2 races and finishing 6th in the championship. He was also test and reserve driver for the Red Bull F1 team.


• Sebastien will drive car number 11 for Scuderia Toro Rosso in the upcoming F1 season. He replaces Sebastian Vettel who has moved to Red Bull and he partners Sebastien Bordais. That’s a lot of Sebastiens!

Well that’s the basics! I’ve left out the fact that he likes Swiss roll (which isn’t actually from Switzerland) and some other trivia, but at least that should give us all a little better understanding of his history (if not his personality).

I have a feeling that we’ll soon know a lot more about Sebastien Buemi, F1's newest star!

Sources:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9bastien_Buemi
• http://www.itv-f1.com/Feature.aspx?Type=General&id=44897&PO=44897
• http://www.itv-f1.com/Feature.aspx?Type=Gravel_Trap&id=44901&PO=44901