We are now all aware that rising F1 star Sebastien Vettel is moving on to greater challenges next season. But who will take his seat at Toro Rosso?
Toro Rosso, being a lower-placed team, probably won't sign anybody who is already on the F1 grid at the moment. An exception to this could be Nelson Piquet Jr. as he is failing to get the Renault up to where it should be at present.
With only two points scored so far this season, the pressure is on. If he continues to underperform, he could be saying goodbye to Renault sooner than expected.
Another possible exception is that of Timo Glock. He has struggled to match the performance of his teammate in the Toyota. However, I think it is highly unlikely that Glock will join Toro Rosso.
The final driver on the current grid who could possibly join the sister team of Red Bull is Adrian Sutil. He hasn't scored any points for Force India yet, but he had an exceptional race in Monaco before his dreams were shattered by World Champion Kimi Raikkonen. He could take a small step and move up the grid gradually.
So, with only three possible drivers even in contention to move to Toro Rosso, that leaves the door open to the drivers in the GP2 feeder series.
The current top three drivers are Giorgio Pantano, Bruno Senna and Sebastien Buemi.
The first candidate, Pantano, has been racing in the series since it began in 2005 and has been better placed every season. He finished third in the 2007 standings.
Many think that his time has come, and he has had some very good results in 2008. Excluding retirements, he has finished fourth or above in every race, be it the feature race or the sprint race. With three wins so far, he leads the championship by 13 points.
Bruno Senna, the nephew of the three-time world champion, is also performing well this season. He won in the streets of Monte Carlo and also won at Silverstone. With three podiums, he is second in the championship; however, it might be his name that earns him an F1 seat, just as Piquet's did.
Sebastien Buemi has already driven an F1 car, because he the test driver for Red Bull. This could prove critical, as Toro Rosso are the "sister" team to Red Bull.
He came second in the GP2 Asia series and is currently third in the world championship with one win. Buemi tested the RB3 at Jerez in 2007 and set the third fastest lap of the day.
It is also worth noting the names of Lucas Di Grassi and Roman Grosjean, as they too are performing well in GP2.
Di Grassi is the test driver for Renault. Although he is fourth in the GP2 standings, he has only raced in four events this season, finishing second in three of those.
Grosjean is also a Renault test driver. He won the 2008 Asian Series and won the sprint race in Turkey earlier on in the season.
So who will replace Vettel and possibly Bourdais also? I personally think Senna will get the seat and if Bourdais leaves also, Buemi will fill his boots.
Tell me in your comment what you think and don't forget to rate the article!
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2 months ago
Good writing Billy, I personally think that if Bruno Senna can churn out those results in GP2 this year he will be the one getting that drive ... I cant remember where I read it but he has some pretty close ties with Gerhard Berger as I recall so that could of course act in his favour ?
2 months ago
Well Ayrton and Gerhard were quite close during their racing days , maybe that was one of the factors in Bruno becoming a figure for the seat , Also , just think what it will do for the sport to have that famous name back !
Not forgetting that Bruno is extremely Fast , a TV show called Vroom Vroom , senna drove cars up through a multi storey car park flat out , i never once seen him make a mistake, so he has the skill and awareness .
Also Ayrton used to use that saying " you think im fast , you wanna see my nephew " . that in itself says something about bruno's caibre for Uncle ayrton to say that .
I say give Bruno the chance ,
from 2 months ago
i agree, it would be great to see a senna reurn to the sport.
didn't know about the Vroom Vroom show, interesting stuff. hopefully gerhard will offer him the seat, he has certainly seen the talent in the senna family up close
2 months ago
I think that Vroom Vroom is on sky three on the freeview , in fact im certain you will get the clips on you tube .
I just hope he can make his own name for himself once he gets to Torro Rosso , its all well and good people likening him to Ayrton but he will have to prove himself in the car , Im sure he can do it .
I just hope the Interviews with him once he gets to f1 end up being about him and his driving as opposed to them always talking about Being ayrtons nephew , exciting Prospect for the sport non the less .
2 months ago
Also, maybe a bit early days, but Brendon Hartley :D I am doing an article about him at the moment, i know someone who knows him so i asked him so questions aswell :)
2 months ago
Heikki Kovalainen. At least in Toro Rosso he doesn't have to bother with number 2 status. ;)
I don't know, i think we have to wait the end of season to see what will happen with team.
2 months ago
I see Sebastian Buemi replacing Vettel - but who will replace Bourdais?
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