Posted January 10, 2009 Torro Rosso have confirmed one of their drivers for 2009, the young Sebastien Buemi:http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/1/8822.html Not really sure how to say this, but I don't really like how a number of F1 teams are bringing in these relatively rookie drivers, to then develope within. I think F1 drivers should be the absolute pinnacle of driving class, and yes a lot of these young drivers have a lot of talent, but I really think there should be some sort of entry age limit [maybe not that], but you get the idea. Vettel has proved to be a talent, but his first year was a shambles; I remember how pissed Webber was with him when he crashed into him under the safety car at Fugi. and this year Piquet has had a season full of mistakes and poor car handling at times. Ocassionally it's embarrassing to think you're watching F1. I think when a driver enters F1 they should be a complete driver. Sebastien Buemi hasn't won any championship at any stage of his career: 2004 - 3rd in Formula BMW Drivers Championship 2005 - 2nd in Formula BMW Drivers Championship 2006 - Team finished 8th in A1 GP 2007 - 21st in GP2 Drivers Championship 2008 - 6th in GP2 Drivers Championship You then have to feel for drivers like Giorgio Pantano, who won GP2 this year, and recently had this to say: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72303 Pantano "abandoned" by F1 teams Giorgio Pantano says he feels abandoned by Formula One with no teams looking at him despite him winning this season's GP2 championship. The 29-year-old Italian, who raced for Jordan in 2004, beat Bruno Senna and Sebastien Buemi - who are both being considered for F1 race seats - to the GP2 title this year, but has no options himself - the first time since GP2's inception in 2005 that its champion has not found a drive in F1. "I challenge anyone to have a CV as good as mine," Pantano told Autosprint. "I won two karting world titles, three European, three Italian, German F3, GP2 and was always at the front in F3000. But now I don't have a seat in F1, is this a joke? "That's what it's like now, if you don't get in touch with people, no one looks for you. I feel abandoned. "The only person behaving fairly has been Ecclestone. I called him a few days ago and after ten minutes he called me back. The only real drives still available are at Honda and Toro Rosso. Bernie told me that if anything moves, I'll be the first to know. "But I feel total indifference towards me. I read of Senna and Buemi but, really, what have they done? At this point, a guy in my situation must think that being a racing driver is not advantageous, doing another job would be better." Pantano believes that a driver's talent is no longer relevant if he cannot bring substantial financial backing to a team. "Money is becoming the priority in order to race, talent doesn't exist any more," he said. "I think I could still do six or seven years in F1 at high levels. "I would just like someone to let me test an F1 car. Once the test is done, they'd tell me whether I could be a possible world champion or not. That would give me peace of mind. "I just want a credible test, a real chance that puts me in the conditions of being properly assessed." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 10, 2009 Didn't Pantano drive for Jordan or Jaguar or somebody a few years ago? The name rings a bell to me. And why do Torro Rosso have such a thing for Sebastien's? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 10, 2009 New cars http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2009/1/8807.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
