From GMM

It is now almost beyond doubt that Sébastien Buemi, a Swiss rookie, will be confirmed as a Toro Rosso race driver for the 2009 season.

A formal announcement is presumably imminent, given the most recent media utterings of insiders, including the 20-year-old himself, the Faenza team's boss Franz Tost, and the now departed co-owner Gerhard Berger.

As a parting note to the Ferrari-powered squad, Berger told the Swiss newspaper Blick that the team is in good shape for 2009 because "Toro Rosso will have a good and fast driver in Buemi".

Buemi himself is also now speaking with certainty about his future, telling Auto Motor und Sport that his debut will be somewhat bittersweet because "you work towards your goal for so long and then when you're finally there, the sport is in crisis".

Team principal Tost, meanwhile, is already thinking of how to manage the arrival of another rookie to the team.

"Buemi is going to stay close to Faenza," he said, referring to Toro Rosso's Italian headquarters. "If we can work together each and every day, we will be getting the maximum out of him."


Photo Credit : Gepa Pictures