All the F1 action in Spain was off the track

It was perhaps inevitable that the European Grand Prix weekend in Valencia, Spain, was going to be a little flat. Michael Schumacher was there all right, and wearing Ferrari clothing--but not the driver�s suit virtually everyone hoped he would. Michael smiled a lot, and kept wishing Ferrari stand-in Luca Badoer well, but that didn�t really help. And as he stared at the timing screens, it was impossible to disguise his frustration at Badoer�s, er, modest pace.
During Friday practice, the hapless Badoer set a record by exceeding the pit lane speed limit on four different occasions-�as the paddock�s razor-tongued observers noted, somewhat cruelly, that no one could accuse him of excessive speed on the race track. In qualifying, the No. 3 Ferrari was dead last; 12 months ago, driven by Felipe Massa, it dominated the weekend.
You had to have some sympathy for Badoer, however, as he had not raced an F1 car since 1999, and though he is Ferrari�s official test driver, has virtually no experience of the F60 now that in-season testing is banned.
Some wondered why Ferrari did not draft a guy such as Sebastien Bourdais, whom Scuderia Toro Rosso fired recently. Bourdais may not have set F1 on fire, but he is at least very much race-fit, and fully conversant with both the Ferrari engine and Bridgestone slicks.
Though Ferrari will not make the announcement before the Italian Grand Prix at Monza next month, Fernando Alonso is to drive for the team in 2010, with Massa--assuming he recovers fully from his injuries suffered in Hungary--returning to partner him.
The suggestion in Valencia was that Ferrari reached an agreement with Kimi Raikkonen to end his contract a year early. During three years with the team, Raikkonen, despite nicking the world championship two years ago, has rarely looked anything like the driver he was at McLaren-Mercedes, and it is not known whether he will stay in F1--Renault has been mentioned--or perhaps turn his hand to rallying. During the recent summer break, Kimi took part in Rally Finland--he rolled his car--but not before impressing onlookers with his raw speed.
Given that it is now accepted that Alonso will join Ferrari, the driver market has come very much to life, and of course BMW�s forthcoming withdrawal has contributed to that: Robert Kubica, who has the measure of anyone in terms of natural talent, is unexpectedly available.
Kubica has been linked with three teams--McLaren, Renault and Williams--but the belief at the moment is that current Williams driver Nico Rosberg will join his old karting teammate Lewis Hamilton at McLaren. Renault, soon to lose Alonso, is believed to be keen to sign Kubica, but Robert himself is believed to have more enthusiasm for Williams, a team very much on the up at the moment.
Williams� problem for 2010 could be engines, for it is known that Toyota, which has supplied the team for the last three years, is profoundly displeased by Williams� stance in the recent FIA-FOTA battle, and may well terminate the contract. Rumors abound that Red Bull Racing will use Mercedes engines next year; if that happens, Williams and Renault could very well renew the highly successful partnership last seen in the mid-�90s.
Quite evident in Valencia qualifying was that McLaren is emphatically back on its game. Hamilton won in Hungary, but perhaps his car wasn�t the out-and-out quickest: at Valencia, though, Lewis won the pole, with teammate Heikki Kovalainen alongside him.
Only McLaren and Ferrari still use kinetic energy recovery systems, and as the teams improve their once lamentable cars, KERS can make a difference: An extra 80 hp for six seconds a lap can come in quite handy. Imagine the advantage it might provide in the next race, at Spa, up the long hill from Eau Rouge to Les Combes. Indeed, Hamilton will not retain his title this year, but he may well have a say in who takes it.

By NIGEL ROEBUCK

Sebastien Bourdais to leave Red Bull

Toro Rosso will confirm tomorrow that the Frenchman S�bastien Bourdais has left the team, with Jaime Alguersuari poised to become the youngest driver in Formula One history.
Since entering into Formula One after winning four successive ChampCar titles in the United States from 2004-2007, Bourdais has struggled, winning just six points from the 27 grands prix in which he competed.
Bourdais was overshadowed last year by Sebastian Vettel, who provided a largely uncompetitive team with victory in last season's Italian grand prix. This season Bourdais again found himself second best to the Swiss rookie S�bastien Buemi, who out-qualified his more experienced team-mate in seven of the season's nine races thus far.
In his last race for Toro Rosso, Bourdais was forced to retire from the German grand prix at the N�rburgring yesterday with a hydraulic failure. Although the Toro Rosso team principal, Franz Tost, refused to confirm Bourdais's departure after the race, the reserve and test driver Alguersuari is expected to replace him for the rest of the season.
Alguersuari is the British Formula Three champion and another product of the Red Bull young driver development programme. The Spaniard will take his place in the record books at the Hungarian grand prix in a fortnight by becoming the sport's youngest driver at the age of 19 years and 126 days, which would beat the New Zealander Mike Thackwell's record by 57 days set in the 1980 Canadian grand prix.

A round -up Of the latest Jerez Testing

Heikki Kovalainen moved McLaren�s MP4-24 to the head of the order for 2009 cars at Jerez as teams finally enjoyed fine weather at a pre-season European test.

In stark contrast to the dire conditions that plagued the year�s first group outing at Portimao and partly disrupted Tuesday�s opening day in Spain, Jerez was bathed in warm and sunny conditions on Wednesday to allow some serious dry-weather running.

Sebastien Buemi was again predictably the official pacesetter in Toro Rosso�s 2008 car (clocking 1m17.591s after a mammoth 143 laps) but it was the picture behind that really counted as teams began to get an early indication of where they stand in the early 2009 pecking order.

And it was Kovalainen who won day two�s battle following an encouraging trouble-free 110-lap run in the latest McLaren � although his MP4-24 was running with a modified 2008 rear wing and not the new low-downforce version.

The Finn remained on the same programme as the opening day, focusing on set-up and KERS evaluations, with the team reporting an improving balance following several longer runs and a best time of 1m20.799s.

At the start of the test all eyes in the pit lane had been on Mark Webber, the Red Bull driver returning to action for the first time since breaking his leg at the end of November for his first taste of the team's new RB5.
Indeed encouragingly for both driver and team the Australian made an impressive comeback, appearing to show no ill effects from his injury during his 83 laps and clocking the second fastest time for a 2009 car, 1m21.321s.

His former team Williams meanwhile maintained its positive start to testing as Kazuki Nakajima put another 125 laps on the FW31.
The Japanese driver was just over a tenth of a second adrift of Webber after completing a productive programme which included set-up work plus tyre and reliability testing.
�Kazuki was testing for the team in Jerez today and covered over 550kms while undertaking mechanical set-up tests,� Williams technical director Sam Michael said.

�He also completed a full race simulation without issue.
We are looking forward to another productive day tomorrow when we will carry out more tuning work on the FW31 in preparation for the first grand prix.�

Bringing up the order was again Nelson Piquet Jr as Renault surprisingly continued to find itself at the bottom of the order.
A second day of frustration for the Brazilian was characterised by several small mechanical glitches with the R29 which restricted him to 49 laps.

His running for the week is now over, but he hopes team-mate Fernando Alonso is able to put significantly more mileage on the car over the remaining two days.

"The track conditions were better today and we continued with the work we did yesterday, learning about the car and beginning some basic set-up work," Piquet said.
"Again we didn�t do as many laps as we would have liked as we lost some time after lunch, but we still learnt some interesting things.

"The weather looks good for the rest of the week so the team should be able to get some more important data tomorrow and Friday.�

In addition to Alonso's first appearance of the week, Thursday will also see world champion Lewis Hamilton take to the track for just the second time this winter in McLaren's new car.

The recently confirmed Sebastien Bourdais replaces Buemi at Toro Rosso, while Sebastian Vettel will take over the RB5 again from Webber.

Another Sebastien for Toro Rosso !!!

Swiss rookie Sebastien Buemi gets Toro Rosso drive

for 2009 season

Formula One's Toro Rosso announced on Friday that Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi will drive for the team in the 2009 season, taking the seat vacated by Sebastien Vettel who has switched to sister outfit Red Bull.
The 20-year-old from Aigle competed in the GP2 series last year, when he was also the reserve driver for Red Bull.
"I am naturally very happy to be driving for Toro Rosso this year," Buemi, who is likely to be the youngest driver on the grid, told the team's official website.

"Being a Formula 1 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."



Buemi's first track outing as an official Toro Rosso driver will be at the test session held at the Portimao Circuit in Portugal later this month. An announcement about who will be his team-mate is yet to be made.

Last season France's Sebastien Bourdais was in the seat but was outperformed by Vettel who enoyed a maiden win at Monza.
Japan's Takuma Sato has tested for the team and remains hopeful of getting the nod.
Toro Rosso team principal, Franz Tost, said he was delighted to see Buemi in the 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 Tost.
"That, along with some impressive performances in GP2 was enough to convince us to give him the drive."

French F1 Drivers, Sebastien Bourdais

S�bastien Bourdais

S�bastien Bourdais was born February 28, 1979 in Le Mans and is a current Formula One race car driver. He is one of the most successful drivers in the history of the Champ Car World Series having won four successive championships from 2004 to 2007.

In Paris August 2008...

Born into a racing family (his father Patrick races in touring cars, hill climbs, and sports cars), Bourdais began his racing career at age 10 in karts. During the early 1990s, he competed in a variety of karting championships, winning the Maine Bretagne League in 1991 and the Cadet France championship in 1993. Bourdais was part of the winning Sologne Karting team which won the 1996 24 hour Le Mans kart race at the Circuit Alain Prost on a Merlin chassis with Atomic motors.

Bourdais progressed to single-seater racing in 1995, finishing 9th in the Formula Campus Championship. He then spent two years in the French Formula Renault Championship, ultimately finishing second in points in 1997 after winning four races and five pole positions. In 1998, he won five races to become Rookie of the Year (6th overall) in French Formula 3. He won the series outright in 1999, with eight wins and three poles.

Following his success in the lower formulae, Bourdais joined the Prost Junior Team in the International F3000 Championship. He finished ninth in the series with one pole and a best finish of second. In 2001, Bourdais moved to the DAMS team in Formula 3000 and took his first win in the series at Silverstone. He changed teams again for 2002, taking his Super Nova Racing car to three victories and seven pole positions. He beat Giorgio Pantano to the championship by two points after Tom� Enge, who had scored the most points, was penalised for failing a drug test

Champ Days...

Bourdais won his second Champ Car title in 2005.
Following in the footsteps of recent F3000 graduates such as Juan Pablo Montoya and Bruno Junqueira, Bourdais moved to Champ Car racing in the United States and joined Newman-Haas Racing for the 2003 CART World Series season. At St. Petersburg, FL, Bourdais became the first rookie since Nigel Mansell to claim pole position for his very first race. However, he did not finish higher than 11th until his fourth race, when he led 95 laps en route to his first Champ Car victory at Brands Hatch.
He followed this up with another victory at Lausitzring. By the end of the season, he had earned five more podium finishes, including a win from pole at Cleveland. With a runner-up finish in Mexico City, he clinched the Rookie of the Year title and finished 4th in the overall standings.
Staying with Newman-Haas for 2004, Bourdais dominated the Champ Car series with seven wins and eight poles in his McDonald's-sponsored Lola, beating his team mate Junqueira by 28 points. His record also included podium finishes in 10 out of 14 events and qualifying results no lower than third all season.

Bourdais successfully defended his Champ Car title in 2005 with five wins in six races towards the end of the season, again with the Newman-Haas/Lanigan team. That May, he also finished 12th in his first Indianapolis 500.
Bourdais won a third consecutive Champ Car title in 2006. His season began with four consecutive victories at Long Beach, Houston, Monterrey, and Milwaukee, although his winning streak was ended by the emergence of A. J. Allmendinger, who won three races in a row through the middle of the season. Bourdais responded with a commanding victory from pole at San Jose, leaving him leading the Champ Car points standings.
However, an incident with his arch-rival Paul Tracy that knocked him out on the final lap of the following race in Denver, and a subsequent win by Allmendinger narrowed the gap between the two. Bourdais's win in Montreal and Allmendinger's DNF had widened his points lead to 62 points with three races left, and Bourdais clinched the championship at the next race in Surfers Paradise despite a weak performance in that race. Bourdais became the first Champ Car driver to win three consecutive titles since Ted Horn achieved the hat trick in 1948.
Bourdais won a fourth consecutive Champ Car title in 2007 with victory at Lexmark Indy 300 on October 21.

In 2002, Bourdais got his first F1 test with the Arrows team and was signed on to drive for the team but the team were on the verge of bankruptcy. In December he tested for Renault at Jerez but fellow Frenchman Franck Montagny secured the test drive instead of Bourdais- rumours suggested that Bourdais did not wish to sign a management deal with Renault boss Flavio Briatore in addition to a Renault contract.

Bourdais returned to F1 in 2007 after being given several tests with Scuderia Toro Rosso. On August 10, 2007 it was announced that Bourdais would race for Toro Rosso in 2008, replacing Vitantonio Liuzzi and partnering Sebastian Vettel. On March 16 2008, Bourdais competed in his first Formula One Championship race, the 2008 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. After qualifying in 17th position he took advantage of mistakes made by other drivers, in the first Formula One race since 2001 without traction control, and worked his way up to fourth. However, with three laps remaining an engine problem forced Bourdais to retire, but he was still classfied 8th having completed more than 90% of the race distance. He later inherited seventh place (and two Championship points) after the disqualification of Rubens Barrichello.
Bourdais qualified ninth for the Belgian Grand Prix. During the race he quickly gained places and held on to fifth place for much of the distance, and was on course for a podium position, but following a chaotic last lap finished in seventh position. After the race an emotional Bourdais was in tears following the result. This marked his best weekend of the season and his first World Championship points since Melbourne.

Malaysia GP '08 on board

Bourdais qualified in fourth place for the 2008 Italian Grand Prix. However, his car would not select first gear on the grid and had to start from the pit lane, a lap down (as the race started behind the safety car, there was no warm-up lap). Although he eventually finished a lap behind the race winner, team-mate Vettel, he set the second fastest lap of the race; only Ferrari's Kimi R�ikk�nen went faster. At the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix he was 6th on the road, but received a 25-second penalty for causing an avoidable accident with Felipe Massa dropping him to 10th. Few agreed with the decision - ITV's Martin Brundle had stated during live TV coverage of the race that he felt Massa may receive a penalty, whilst his colleague James Allen states that 99% of experts he spoke to felt that Bourdais did not deserve a penalty.

24 Hours of Le Mans
Bourdais has frequently contested the famous 24 hour race of his home town, entering for the first time in 1999 (aged only 20) in a Porsche 911 GT2 run by Larbre Competition. The car, which he shared with Pierre de Thoisy and Jean-Pierre Jarier, retired after 134 laps with engine failure.
He returned in 2000, finishing fourth with Emmanuel Clerico and Olivier Grouillard for the Pescarolo team behind the three dominant Audis.
His next three appearances did not go so well. He shared a Courage C60 with Jean-Christop Boullion and Laurent Redon in 2001 but it retired after 271 laps. He drove the same model the next year and finished ninth in the LMP900 class with Bouillon and Franck Lagorce. He missed the 2003 race and returned in 2004, only for the car he shared with Nicolas Minassian and Emmanuel Collard to retire after 282 laps.
Bourdais' next assault on Le Mans would come at the wheel of a factory-backed Peugeot 908 in 2007. The car he shared with Stephane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy finished the race second behind the winning Audi R10 TDi, despite an embarrassing slide on the first lap in wet conditions that cost Bourdais a place to one of the Audis, and car problems forcing him to park the car for the last minutes of the race, waiting for the lead R10 to cross the line.

While racing in the junior formulae and Champ Cars, Bourdais made several appearances in other championships. He won the Spa 24 Hours in 2002 with Christophe Bouchut, David Terrien and Vincent Vosse in a Larbre Comp�tition Chrysler Viper GTS-R. He also won his class at the 2006 12 Hours of Sebring in a Panoz Esperante. In 2005 he also competed in the International Race of Champions, winning his first stock car race at Texas Motor Speedway.

A race weekend with� Sebastien Bourdais

Finishing a lap down in 17th place may not be the dream ending to your first home Grand Prix, but having enjoyed so many successes at Magny-Cours in the past, Toro Rosso�s Sebastien Bourdais retains his affection for the French circuit.It was there that we caught up with the Le Mans-born driver to discover his likes and dislikes about the typical race weekend - and to find out how the Champ Car legend is adapting to the routine of life, Formula One style�

Q: We were in Magny-Cours this weekend, what do you associate with this circuit?

Sebastien Bourdais: I have a lot of memories, obviously, because I raced here for the first time in 1995 when I was starting karts. When I count it comes to about 20 races that I did here - and it was here that I had my first major success, winning my first championship in Formula Three. It�s somewhat of a proud feeling to finally come back driving a Formula One car at my home Grand Prix, even if my race was far from being memorable. But honestly, for me it meant more to get to Monaco. There I really had the feeling that I had arrived in Formula One - it was like, �Gee, here I am in Monaco��

Q: You don�t take to the track until Friday morning at races, but when do you like to fly in?

SB: If it�s not too far - and basically this goes for the European races - I like to fly in on Thursday morning. If that�s not possible, I usually arrive Wednesday evening.

Q: Do you make an effort to discover your surroundings at a race, or do you stick to the airport-hotel-track-airport itinerary?

SB: That greatly depends on the place. At the places we had never been before I took my wife and we flew in a day earlier, like in Istanbul where we visited some of the attractions. So when the schedule allows it, yes, I do play the tourist.

Q: What�s your exercise regime over a race weekend? Does it vary according to the race location, demands of the circuit etc?

SB: Well, we do not really have time for intense work-outs over a race weekend. When the schedule permits I do two short runs - half an hour or so - and a bit stretching, but not the big programme. That is done in the time between the races and naturally in the off-season in winter.

Q: What�s your preferred accommodation at races - city hotel, hotel near the circuit, your own motorhome near the paddock?

SB: I don�t have the luxury of a motorhome anymore which I used to in the States. That was truly convenient. As far as a hotel goes, the closer the better!

Q: Anything you have to have provided in your hotel room, or any luxuries you always bring with you from home?

SB: I�ve got my laptop on which I work and my iPod for my kind of music, and some other small electronic gadgets. But no pillows or anything like that.

Q: Do you enjoy entertaining friends and family during a race weekend?

SB: I don�t really have time for that. When I am at the track it is work. I usually arrive very early and leave quite late. Very rarely do you see me leaving the track before 9pm.

Q: Do you get the chance to go out and socialize on Friday and Saturday night?

SB: On Thursday a bit, when the media schedule allows it, but never Friday or Saturday!

Q: Any drivers you particularly like hanging out with?

SB: I have a very good relationship with my team mate (Sebastian Vettel). We have been travelling quite a bit together. I am sure I could have quite good relationships with others but the schedule doesn�t allow much of anything. We see each other at the GPDA (Grand Prix Drivers� Association) meetings, the drivers� briefing and the drivers� parade. Unfortunately I am no poker player, so I am not part of that �gang� - but that probably it saves me a lot of money!

Q: Your favourite race for nightlife?

SB: Wait till the end of the year then I can tell you. I don�t know all the races yet and so I would be making a premature judgment. The intermediate result would be Melbourne - but then I scored my first points there, so it was clear that a bit partying was on.

Q: What�s the best night out you�ve had at a Grand Prix? And have you ever overslept the next morning?

SB: For sure, Sunday night in Australia after I laid hands on those two points. But so far throughout my professional career in racing I have never overslept.

Q: What do you have for breakfast on a race Sunday?

SB: I eat what I feel like - I don�t have a �fixed menu�. It really depends on the country I am in. Many times I just go for the basics. The truth is I am not very picky with food.

Q: How much do you drink over a race weekend? And what?

SB: I would struggle to give you a figure, but for the most part it is water and energy drinks.

Q: How do you spend the morning on race Sunday?

SB: Mostly when we get up we do a 30-minute run, then have breakfast and go to the track. There PR work is waiting, then the drivers� parade and then I need some time for myself to get into the �racing mode�.

Q: How do you like to get to the circuit on Sunday morning? Do you drive yourself?SB: Well, it�s not McLaren here, so yes, I always drive myself to the track - in a rental car!

Q: How do you like to spend the hour or so before the race? Any superstitions or pre-race rituals you always go through to bring you luck?

SB: After I have ticked off the �necessities� - namely PR work and drivers� parade - I speak with my engineers, then I get ready, and then I go racing. No superstitions any more. I used to be very superstitious with underwear and all those things, but then you discover that you win with everything and lose with everything. It just makes you dependent on things and their availability. So I skipped that nonsense habit.

Q: What do you do to stay calm as you�re sat on the grid awaiting the formation lap?

SB: I just try to do everything to be ready.

Q: How do you wind down after the race?

SB: Depends. If it�s been a good day you debrief and you talk a lot about positive things. When it was a lousy day you just try to get away from the race track and don�t think about it any more.

Q: If things don�t go your way and you retire early, do you prefer to get away as soon as possible, or hang out and watch the rest of the race?

SB: I stay, I watch the race and I am available for the team.

Bahrain : A Good Race for BMW Sauber

In what proved to be a somehow boring race, Ferrari got the 1-2 they deserved and BMW Sauber got an excelent P3-4, bringing them on top of the Constuctors Championship. 1 point clear of Ferrari and 2 above McLaren.

Weber and Rosberg both in the points a surprise for Red Bull, catching their 4th point of the season.

Sebastien Bourdais finishing 15th was a disapointement but at least he finished the whole race.

Bothe Force india managed to finished the race as well, so some encouragemnt for a very hardworking team. Who knows they might even catch some points in the European Races coming up through Fisichella.

Another Stunning Race At Sepang - Malaysia

REIGNING world champion Kimi Raikkonen could not have chosen a better venue to spark a fight-back for Ferrari in the F1 World Championships.
It was at the Sepang F1 Circuit in 2003 where Raikkonen bagged his first Grand Prix victory and the Finn repeated the feat by winning the 10th edition of the Petronas Malaysian F1 Grand Prix in commanding fashion yesterday.
While Raikkonen romped to a trouble-free victory, winning the 56-lap race by nearly 20 seconds, his McLaren rival, Lewis Hamilton, endured a torrid afternoon.

Hamilton, winner of the season-opening Australian GP last week, finished in fifth place after a pit-stop mistake by his crew delayed him by nearly 20 seconds.
Polish driver Robert Kubica gave BMW Sauber their first ever podium finish in Sepang in second place behind Raikkonen. He finished the race in 1'31:38.155 and it was his career best performance in F1 thus far.
Heikki Kovalainen restored some pride for the battered McLaren when he fought his way to third place in 1'31:57.005 after starting from eighth on the grid.
But the day certainly belonged to his more illustrious Finnish compatriot, who was in a class of his own.
Raikkonen took the lead after the first pit stop from Brazilian team-mate Felipe Massa, who later spun off on the 30th lap.
Massa had started from pole ahead of Raikkonen and was in a position to give Ferrari a 1-2 finish but lost the back end of his Ferrari and spun off into the gravel.
Raikkonen had already built up a lead of four seconds by then and it was just a steady cruise home for the Finn.
Raikkonen�s win cut Hamilton's lead in the drivers' standings to three points after two races and the Finn, who seldom smiled to the cameras, had reasons to flash a big grin after the podium celebrations.
The victory was also Ferrari's fifth in Sepang and the first since Michael Schumacher won in 2004.
More importantly, Ferrari will see it as a boost to their championship aspirations after Raikkonen suffered from engine trouble and failed to finish the race in Melbourne. He was only classified in eighth place and picked up one point after Honda's Rubens Barrichello was disqualified for exiting the pit lane while the light was still red.
�For sure we had quite a difficult weekend in Australia when I didn't really expect to have such difficulties,� said Raikkonen.
�We were not 100% sure that things would be different here. We knew that speed wise, we would be fine, even in Australia the speed should have been fine. But everything worked perfectly here and we took it easy to make sure nothing went wrong.
�We saved the engine. It was a perfect job by the team to come back. But I would have been happier if Felipe got second but things went wrong.�
Massa said that he still did not know what happened to the car and said they would get to the bottom of the matter.
�I just lost the car completely when the rear came round suddenly,� said Massa, who was also on pole in the Malaysian GP last year.
Hamilton was not pleased with the outcome of the race despite finishing among the points. Also not helping his cause was the fact that his water dispenser failed to work during the race.

�I was very thirsty. We were in with a good shot for third place and then had trouble with the pit-stop. I pressed hard for fourth, I really wanted that point, but it wasn't to be,� said the Briton.
Sebastien Bourdais had some mechanical problems sending him in the gravel at the first lap.
And that concluded another very hot Racing week-end here in Sepang. I will upload my pics later today for your viewing pleasure.

Bonne Chance Sebastian Bourdais !

In an era when driver ages keep tumbling, at 28 years-old, Toro Rosso�s Sebastien Bourdais is something of an anomaly. Not only is he a fair few years older than his fellow debutants, Bourdais is also vastly more experienced. A four-time Champ Car champion he is one of the most successful drivers of all time, and yet he has never raced a Formula One car.

He came close back in 2003, when Arrows signed him for the season. But when the squad subsequently went bankrupt, Bourdais was forced to look further afield for a race seat. Though his Formula One potential has been touted ever since, a satisfactory opportunity never materialised. That�s all about to change, however, this weekend in Australia, when the Frenchman finally gets his chance to shine, thanks to deal signed with Toro Rosso.

Now Bourdais must prove he can be just as successful racing in Europe as he has been in America. It will take time, of course, to adjust to the change of scene. Former attempts made by Jacques Villeneuve and Juan Pablo Montoya to swap the top US series for Formula One did pay off, but both Michael Andretti and Alex Zanardi struggled to find similar form when they made the move.

Bourdais himself is not expecting to be challenging for the championship just yet. As well as acknowledging the time it will take to find his feet, he also knows that unlike in the States, he is not making his debut for an uber-competitive outfit, rather a backmarker team on the ascendancy. While Toro Rosso are looking in good enough form to occasionally harangue the midfield, the squad are far from being the front-running outfit Bourdais is used to. For the Frenchman, however, the allure of finally sating his Formula One dream took precedence over the practicalities of the team�s budget and when Toro Rosso decided to take a chance on him, Bourdais chose to do the same. At times last season the team were openly critical of their drivers, but Bourdais should have no worries on that front, given that he was selected over incumbent driver Vitantonio Liuzzi. And so far things are progressing nicely on track too. Bourdais has looked pretty strong over the winter testing period and with the Italian squad set to start the season with their 2007 car, their reliability should be strong. While it may not be the dream seat for the start of a Formula One career, anyone who saw Bourdais master first Formula Three, then F3000 and most recently Champ Car, knows he has bucket loads of talent. Put him in a Ferrari or McLaren and Bourdais has more than enough flair to turn in some excellent performances. In a year-old Toro Rosso, however, he knows he will be lucky to make it into Q2 on a Saturday. But while glugging champagne on the podium may soon be but a distant memory, there is no doubting his enthusiasm, given that he has waited this long - and forsaken a potential, historic fifth US title - for his Formula One opportunity.

If he is to make his mark this season, the first hurdle he will have to jump is Sebastian Vettel, his younger team mate. Last season Vettel starred in seven races for Toro Rosso, clinching an impressive fourth place at the Chinese race. With that experience of the team, the German may well sprint ahead in the opening rounds as Bourdais learns the ropes. The Frenchman, however, is an intelligent driver and with his wealth of racing knowledge, don�t discount him catching up fast once he finds his feet.

I'll be following more closely and keep him as my featured driver of the 2008 Season - Vive la France, Vive Sebastien.

As a fellow Frenchman, I wish him all the best for his inaugural F1 season

Sebastien Bourdais, A Force To be Reckon With ?

Karting

Born into a racing family (his father Patrick races in touring cars, hill climbs, and sports cars), Bourdais began his racing career at age 10 in karts. During the early 1990s, he competed in a variety of karting championships, winning the Maine Bretagne League in 1991 and the Cadet France championship in 1993.

Junior formulae


Bourdais progressed to single-seater racing in 1995, finishing 9th in the Formula Campus Championship. He then spent two years in the French Formula Renault Championship, ultimately finishing second in points in 1997 after winning four races and five pole positions. In 1998, he won five races to become Rookie of the Year (6th overall) in French Formula 3. He won the series outright in 1999, with eight wins and three poles.

Formula 3000

Following his success in the lower formulae, Bourdais joined the Prost Junior Team in the International F3000 Championship. He finished ninth in the series with one pole and a best finish of second. In 2001, Bourdais moved to the DAMS team in Formula 3000 and took his first win in the series at Silverstone. He changed teams again for 2002, taking his Super Nova Racing car to three victories and seven pole positions. He beat Giorgio Pantano to the championship by two points after championship Tom� Enge, who had scored the most points, was penalised for failing a drug test.

Champ Car

Bourdais won his second Champ Car title in 2005.
Following in the footsteps of recent F3000 graduates such as Juan Pablo Montoya and Bruno Junqueira, Bourdais moved to Champ Car racing in the United States and joined Newman-Haas Racing for the 2003 season. At St. Petersburg, FL, Bourdais became the first rookie since Nigel Mansell to claim pole position for his very first race. However, he did not finish higher than 11th until his fourth race, when he led 95 laps en route to his first Champ Car victory at Brands Hatch.

He followed this up with another victory at Lausitzring. By the end of the season, he had earned five more podium finishes, including a win from pole at Cleveland. With a runner-up finish in Mexico City, he clinched the Rookie of the Year title and finished 4th in the overall standings.
Staying with Newman-Haas for 2004, Bourdais dominated the Champ Car series with seven wins and eight poles in his McDonald's-sponsored Lola, beating his team mate Junqueira by 28 points. His record also included podium finishes in 10 out of 14 events and qualifying results no lower than third all season.

Bourdais successfully defended his Champ Car title in 2005 with five wins in six races towards the end of the season, again with the Newman-Haas/Lanigan team. That May, he also finished 12th in his first Indianapolis 500.

Bourdais won a third consecutive Champ Car title in 2006. His season began with four consecutive victories at Long Beach, Houston, Monterrey, and Milwaukee, although his winning streak was ended by the emergence of A. J. Allmendinger, who won three races in a row through the middle of the season. Bourdais responded with a commanding victory from pole at San Jose, leaving him leading the Champ Car points standings.
However, an incident with his arch-rival Paul Tracy that knocked him out on the final lap of the following race in Denver, and a subsequent win by Allmendinger narrowed the gap between the two. Bourdais's win in Montreal and Allmendinger's DNF had widened his points lead to 62 points with three races left, and Bourdais clinched the championship at the next race in Surfers Paradise despite a weak performance in that race. Bourdais became the first Champ Car driver to win three consecutive titles since Ted Horn achieved the hat trick in 1948.
Bourdais won a fourth consecutive Champ Car title in 2007 with victory at Lexmark Indy 300 on October 21.


Formula One

Pre-Champ Car

In 2002, Bourdais got his first F1 test with the Arrows team and was signed on to drive for the team but the team were on the verge of bankruptcy. In December he tested for Renault at Jerez but fellow Frenchman Franck Montagny secured the test drive instead of Bourdais - rumours suggested that Bourdais did not wish to sign a management deal with Renault boss Flavio Briatore in addition to a Renault contract.

Toro Rosso

S�bastien returned to F1 in 2007 after being given several tests with Scuderia Toro Rosso. On August 10, 2007 it was announced that Bourdais would race for Toro Rosso in 2008, replacing Vitantonio Liuzzi, and partnering Sebastian Vettel.

• In my humble opinion, as Toro rosso are starting the season on the old car, it will take a few races for Sebastien to get up to speed but with the new car coming in later we should see him in mid table regularly and probably a few top 8 finish as well.