THE DREAM for all sportsmen is to reach the pinnacle of their sport, whether it be playing in World Cups, The Ashes or Wimbledon. In the case of motorsport, there is ultimately one category of racing which stands head and shoulders above the rest in terms of prestige: Formula 1.
Sebastien Buemi may be only 24, but he has already experienced the highs of reaching the pinnacle of his sport, and the lows of being ejected from a team into the F1 wilderness.
Hired to race for Toro Rosso aged only 20 in 2009, Buemi appeared to have a long and prosperous career ahead of him, but three years later he found himself without a seat, after being ousted from Red Bull’s sister team.
Despite the setback, Buemi’s F1 career is far from over, and by holding down a test and reserve driver role at Red Bull he has maintained a foothold in the prestigious sport.
“My objective has always been Formula 1 and being the test and reserve driver at the best team on the grid is a great advantage,” said Buemi. “In the meantime I get to race with Toyota Motorsport, a top team in the FIA World Endurance Championship, and this is a good compromise as I can still race with a foot in Formula 1.”
It is evident that the Swiss driver, now aged 24, harbours ambitions of regaining a race seat in F1 in the future. But with a number of promising young drivers searching for the breakthrough into the sport, the task will by no means be an easy one. This is exacerbated by the importance of money and financial backing which impacts upon the decisions of a number of teams.
F1 drivers now appear to be getting younger, with his former teammate Jaime Alguersuari entering the sport aged only 19, and Russian driver Sergey Sirotkin set to race for Sauber next year aged only 18.
I asked Sebastien whether he believed that he entered the sport at too young an age, to which he replied: “I was totally ready and scored points in my first race with Toro Rosso, making me the fourth youngest ever scorer in Formula One.
“My team mate, Sebastien Bourdais, had a lot of experience in single seaters through his career in IndyCar so it worked well with the two of us in the team.”
In 55 races for the team, Buemi scored 29 points. His best results were two seventh placed finishes in his debut season: at the opening race in Melbourne and the penultimate Grand Prix at Interlagos.
After the 2011 season, he and his teammate Jaime Alguersuari were dropped by Toro Rosso, and replaced by Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne and Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who is set to take the Red Bull seat vacated by Mark Webber next year.
I asked Buemi his thoughts on losing his seat, and whether he thought he was ever in line for a Red Bull drive. He answered: “Red Bull Racing always confirmed drivers quite late so I knew that anything could happen.
“When I was advised by the Red Bull management that the seat at Toro Rosso was no longer available, they immediately offered me the test and reserve driver role at Red Bull Racing.
“It may appear to be harsh as I had achieved good results, but it was the management’s decision and I had to respect it.”
Toro Rosso has been criticised for appearing as a subsidiary team to Red Bull, with little prospect of breaking through to be a major force in F1.
Buemi told me: “We knew from the very beginning that Scuderia Toro Rosso was the junior team to Red Bull Racing. Drivers know that the objective is clear and this will always be the case.”
A similar pattern has continued in 2013, with Toro Rosso languishing in the lower half of the standings, whilst Red Bull once more assert their dominance over the rest of the field.
With Sebastian Vettel storming towards his fourth consecutive World Drivers Championship, the answer I’d receive as to who is favourite to win this year’s title was rather inevitable. Buemi remarked: “Vettel will most likely win the Drivers’ Championship. In terms of talented racing drivers on the grid today, it would be Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton and Raikonnen.”
For now Sebastien Buemi’s career is at a crossroads, his current chances in F1 appear to be limited, but there’s always the chance that an opportunity could present itself over the coming years. If it does then the Swiss driver would grab the opportunity with welcoming hands. F1 is the pinnacle, and being part of it is, as ever, Buemi’s ultimate goal, and one he has not given up on.