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Sébastien Olivier Buemi (born 31 October 1988 in Aigle, Vaud) is a Swiss racing driver, who formerly competed for Scuderia Toro Rosso in Formula One.
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After graduating from karting, Buemi spent 2004 and 2005 in German Formula BMW, finishing third and second in the championship respectively. He was also runner up in the 2005 FBMW World Final.
Following a single race in Spanish Formula Three in 2005, Buemi moved up to the Formula Three Euroseries for 2006, finishing 12th in the championship, ceding 11th place to Charlie Kimball on countback. He remained in the series for 2007, and finished second in the championship, behind Romain Grosjean. He has also competed in the special Masters of Formula 3 and Macau Grand Prix races.
For the 2006–07 A1 Grand Prix season, Buemi shared driving duties for A1 Team Switzerland with Neel Jani and Marcel Fässler. The team finished eighth in the championship.
Buemi was drafted in at short notice to replace the injured Michael Ammermüller at ART Grand Prix for the Monaco round of the 2007 GP2 Series season. He performed creditably on his GP2 début, qualifying fourth and finishing seventh. He joined the Arden International team for the 2008 GP2 Asia Series, and finished as runner-up with a win and four second places. He continued with the team for the main 2008 season.[1] He scored his first win in the French sprint race, starting 21st on the grid (after a technical problem in the feature race) on slick tyres on a drying track and benefitting as most rivals had to pit for slicks. He won one more race and ended the season sixth in the championship.
On 18 September 2007 he drove the Red Bull RB3 at the F1 test session in Jerez. He was third quickest on the day, behind Timo Glock (BMW) and Vitantonio Liuzzi (Scuderia Toro Rosso) but ahead of names such as Rubens Barrichello (Honda) and Nelson Piquet Jr. (Renault). On 16 January 2008 Red Bull Racing confirmed Buemi as their test and reserve driver for the 2008 season.[2] At the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix, Buemi drove the medical car as usual driver Dr Jacques Tropenat had been suffering from an ear problem.[3]
Scuderia Toro Rosso confirmed its signing of Buemi as one of its race drivers on 9 January 2009.[4] He was the first Swiss driver to take part in an F1 race since Jean-Denis Délétraz drove for Pacific at the 1995 European Grand Prix.
In his first race, the 2009 Australian Grand Prix, Buemi outqualified his team-mate Sébastien Bourdais and then scored a point in the race by finishing in eighth position. He was later promoted to seventh place as a result of Lewis Hamilton being disqualified. At the Chinese Grand Prix, he scored another point, this time in the wet, finishing eighth after starting tenth. After a mid season dip in the Toro Rosso's form, Buemi rounded off a good weekend to finish 7th in the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix. He followed this with a third top ten qualification in a row and another points finish at the season finale in Abu Dhabi. Buemi finished the year sixteenth with 6 points.
On 9 November 2009, it was confirmed that Buemi would race for a second season with Toro Rosso.
During the first free practice session of the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix, a front suspension wishbone broke under braking on Buemi's Toro Rosso as he braked for Turn 14. The two front wheels flew off while Buemi was travelling at over 300 km/h (190 mph). One wheel went over the safety fence and landed in a spectator area, missing a camera man on its way. Buemi's car continued to travel forward, veering to the left and sliding along an armco barrier, knocking off the front wing. Neither Buemi nor any spectators were injured as a result of the incident. Toro Rosso blamed a failure of a new front right upright for the incident.[5] Buemi completed 2010 with eight points to teammate Alguersuari's five. He was sixteenth again in the drivers' championship.
Buemi, along with his team mate from 2009 and 2010 – Jaime Alguersuari, continued to race for Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2011. On 14 December 2011 it was announced that both Buemi and Alguersuari had been dropped by the team, and would be replaced by Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Éric Vergne for the 2012 season.
Buemi lives with his family and his girlfriend Jennifer in Bahrain.[6] His cousin, Natacha Gachnang, is also a racing driver, currently competing in the FIA GT1 World Championship.
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006–07 | Switzerland | NED SPR 10 |
NED FEA 8 |
CZE SPR 8 |
CZE FEA 10 |
BEI SPR |
BEI FEA |
MYS SPR |
MYS FEA |
IDN SPR |
IDN FEA |
NZL SPR 5 |
NZL FEA 4 |
AUS SPR 4 |
AUS FEA 7 |
RSA SPR |
RSA FEA |
MEX SPR |
MEX FEA |
SHA SPR 4 |
SHA FEA 9 |
GBR SPR Ret |
GBR SPR DSQ |
8th | 50 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | ART Grand Prix | BHR FEA |
BHR SPR |
ESP FEA |
ESP SPR |
MON FEA 7 |
FRA FEA |
FRA SPR |
GBR FEA |
GBR SPR |
EUR FEA Ret |
EUR SPR 20 |
HUN FEA 15 |
HUN SPR 17 |
TUR FEA Ret |
TUR SPR 13 |
ITA FEA 7 |
ITA SPR 14 |
BEL FEA 10 |
BEL SPR Ret |
VAL FEA |
VAL SPR |
21st | 6 |
| 2008 | Trust Team Arden | ESP FEA 7 |
ESP SPR 2 |
TUR FEA 6 |
TUR SPR 3 |
MON FEA Ret |
MON SPR 11 |
FRA FEA Ret |
FRA SPR 1 |
GBR FEA 4 |
GBR SPR DNS |
GER FEA Ret |
GER SPR 8 |
HUN FEA 7 |
HUN SPR 1 |
EUR FEA 6 |
EUR SPR Ret |
BEL FEA 5 |
BEL SPR 4 |
ITA FEA 3 |
ITA SPR 7 |
6th | 50 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Trust Team Arden | DUB1 FEA DSQ |
DUB1 SPR Ret |
IDN FEA 1 |
IDN SPR 7 |
MAL FEA Ret |
MAL SPR Ret |
BHR FEA 2 |
BHR SPR 2 |
DUB2 FEA 2 |
DUB2 SPR 2 |
2nd | 37 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Scuderia Toro Rosso | Toro Rosso STR4 | Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 | AUS 7 |
MAL 16 |
CHN 8 |
BHR 17 |
ESP Ret |
MON Ret |
TUR 15 |
GBR 18 |
GER 16 |
HUN 16 |
EUR Ret |
BEL 12 |
ITA 13 |
SIN Ret |
JPN Ret |
BRA 7 |
ABU 8 |
16th | 6 | ||
| 2010 | Scuderia Toro Rosso | Toro Rosso STR5 | Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 | BHR 16 |
AUS Ret |
MAL 11 |
CHN Ret |
ESP Ret |
MON 10 |
TUR 16 |
CAN 8 |
EUR 9 |
GBR 12 |
GER Ret |
HUN 12 |
BEL 12 |
ITA 11 |
SIN 14 |
JPN 10 |
KOR Ret |
BRA 13 |
ABU 15 |
16th | 8 |
| 2011 | Scuderia Toro Rosso | Toro Rosso STR6 | Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 | AUS 8 |
MAL 13 |
CHN 14 |
TUR 9 |
ESP 14 |
MON 10 |
CAN 10 |
EUR 13 |
GBR Ret |
GER 15 |
HUN 8 |
BEL Ret |
ITA 10 |
SIN 12 |
JPN Ret |
KOR 9 |
IND Ret |
ABU Ret |
BRA 12 |
15th | 15 |