Toro Rosso Confirm Sebastien Buemi as Official 2009 Driver

It is finally official. Toro Rosso has named Sebastien Buemi as their official driver for the 2009 Formula 1 campaign. Although rumored to have already secured a driving spot with Red Bull's sister team, the Swiss will now officially make his debut in the series at this year's Australian Grand Prix.

“We are delighted to welcome Sebastien, who was already part of the Red Bull family, to our team. Our engineers have been impressed with his speed in the car and his ability to learn and progress during the testing he has carried out for us last year,” said Toro Rosso's team manager Franz Tost.

“That, along with some impressive performances in GP2 was enough to convince us to give him the drive. His appointment also fulfills the aims of the Red Bull Junior Driver programme and meets Dietrich Mateschitz's intention to use Scuderia Toro Rosso as a showcase for young drivers the company has supported in the lower formulae,” added the Austrian.

The former GP2 driver had topped most of the winter testing sessions for Toro Rosso so far. He also expressed his enthusiasm on finally making the F1 roster in the upcoming season.

“I am naturally very happy to be driving for Scuderia Toro Rosso this year. Being a Formula One driver has always been my target, since I first started racing. This year, I will do all I can to bring home the best possible results and to show Red Bull that the confidence it has shown in me is justified. I want to thank Red Bull for this opportunity and for all the help they have given me in my career, dating back to 2005,” said Buemi.

The second racing driver for the Scuderia is to be announced in the near future, probably until the first test session of the new year, at Algarve (where Toro Rosso have expressed their wish to participate). Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais and Japanese driver Takuma Sato are the two drivers battling for the only place available in next year's lineup.