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.