SEPTEMBER 2, 2008

Toro Rosso looks to well-connected racers

Scuderia Toro Rosso is in need of a new driver line-up in 2009 and with Red Bull supplying much of the budget in 2009 the team will soon test Red Bull's latest favourite Sebastien Buemi and F1 veteran Takuma Sato at Jerez. Sato has competed in nearly 100 Grands Prix, his best result being third at the United States GP in 2004. His entire career has been strongly supported by Honda, but with only the factory team available he has been looking for work in recent months, following the closure of Super Aguri F1. This will lead to the inevitable question of whether or not the team will switch to Honda engines, although it is now probably too late in the day for such a thing to be achieved easily. There are also likely to be problems as Honda F1 is not going to want to let rival Red Bull Racing (which builds the Toro Rosso chassis) know much about the engine - and vice versa.

Thus Sato's drive would be based on his experience and presumably on financial backing that would help the team pay for its Ferrari engine supply.