Sebastien Buemi insists he has no qualms about being the only rookie on the 2009 grid following confirmation last week that former GP2 rival Bruno Senna will not be part of Brawn GP’s line-up.
The 20-year-old Toro Rosso protégé will become the 11th youngest F1 driver in history when he lines up in Melbourne on March 29 and be in the unusual position of being the only debutant in the field for the season-opening race.
Sebastien Buemi believes he has fought against the odds to claim a place on the Formula One grid this year.
Buemi, who has been taken on by Toro Rosso after a season with Red Bull Racing as their test driver, said: “There are many drivers in Switzerland who have tried to get to F1, but it is really difficult. You don’t get much support from the people there, but at least for the young people trying to get into F1, they can at least see it is possible.”
He added: “It means people will push harder because in Switzerland there is a lot of passion, and this is quite important.
“I know I can say I’m proud to be representing my country in F1 this year.”
“All I’m planning to do is relax in my job and not worry about being the only rookie on the grid.
“I did quite a lot of laps over the winter, although you never feel it’s enough.
“Now, we have to wait and see what the new car can do and I’m really looking forward to driving it on Wednesday and Thursday.”
While STR’s Monday launch signalled the final car unveiling of pre-season, the Faenza-based squad has completed significantly more winter mileage than the two teams to launch directly before it – Force India and Brawn GP – having spent the winter running its old 2008 car.
But while last year’s car bears little resemblance to the STR4 given the radical technical overhaul for 2009, Buemi says the running time has been particularly useful for him as he gets up to speed with F1.
“It will be important to spend as much time driving this new car before the season, but my time spent in the ’08 car was not wasted as I was able to learn about all the systems and the procedures we will go through on a race weekend,” he said.
“Of course, I also tried the slicks and we tried to reproduce the ’09 levels of downforce, but that was quite difficult to do.”
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