Sebastien Buemi Confirmed As Red Bull Reserve Driver

Ex-Toro Rosso driver, Sebastien Buemi has been confirmed as the new Red Bull Racing reserve driver as he completes a straight swap with Australian Daniel Ricciardo who was Red Bull’s reserve driver last season, and who now will be racing at Toro Rosso for 2012.

The Swiss driver made his debut in Formula 1 in 2009 with Toro Rosso, and has been a member of the Red Bull Junior Team since 2004. However in 2011, Toro Rosso began to pile huge amounts of pressure on their two drivers, with Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari both fighting for the right to stay in Formula 1. At seasons end both were surprisingly replaced at the team by World Series by Renault graduate Jean-Eric Vergne, and Red Bull test driver Daniel Ricciardo.

With Jaime Alguersuari linked to a move to the Spanish team HRT, Sebastien Buemi looked set to be without a drive in 2012. That was until reports began to emerge that Buemi was in talks with Red Bull over a potential reserve driver role for the 2012 season, joining Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel at the team. 

This new announcement means that Buemi will be in the car throughout the winter testing sessions that begins next month as well as the in-season test that will take place in May at the Mugello circuit. Sebastien Buemi will also attend every race weekend throughout 2012, with the ability to stand in for Webber or Vettel if they become unwell during an F1 weekend or sustain any injuries throughout the season.