Toro Rosso vindicated by Buemi decision

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko says his decision to hand Sebastien Buemi his Formula 1 chance with Scuderia Toro Rosso this year has been totally vindicated by the Swiss driver's impressive point-scoring debut in Australia

Toro Rosso vindicated by Buemi decision

Marko has revealed that he had to fight hard to convince sceptics within the energy drinks company that Buemi was good enough to make the step up from GP2.

But in the wake of Buemi's run to seventh place in Australia, Marko says he has nothing but praise for the efforts of the youngster.

"I have to say, all weekend he didn't do anything wrong," Marko told AUTOSPORT. "He had big pressure in the race to keep [Nico] Rosberg behind. I'm really pleased because he is the youngest driver and he is another to come out of our programme.

"I had to fight very hard to put him in the car. All the experts know that I made the right choice."

Buemi himself has hit out at those who doubted he was good enough to follow in the footsteps of Sebastian Vettel at Toro Rosso.

"The people who say this don't understand anything about racing," he said. "If you look at the car we had last year in GP2, and the comparison with my teammate, I was a lot better. Now being in F1, everyone knows what a Toro Rosso can do, and I could do the job."

Buemi added that finishing in the points was as much as the team could have hoped for, considering how late its car hit the track.

"We got points and we couldn't have dreamed of doing better than that," he said. "I'm very happy with the result; and with what the team did as we didn't make any mistakes.

"The objective was to finish the race and to finish it in the points was more than we could have expected. We knew there had to be some accidents. Without those we couldn't do it, but it was perfect."

shares
comments

Malaysia preview quotes: Bridgestone

Malaysia preview quotes: Williams

How F1's new era has exposed the downside of its most important rule

How F1's new era has exposed the downside of its most important rule

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Jonathan Noble

How F1's new era has exposed the downside of its most important rule How F1's new era has exposed the downside of its most important rule

What next for Mercedes in its quest to get back to the top of F1?

What next for Mercedes in its quest to get back to the top of F1?

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Saudi Arabian GP
Alex Kalinauckas

What next for Mercedes in its quest to get back to the top of F1? What next for Mercedes in its quest to get back to the top of F1?

Why Piastri’s F1 homecoming will be a landmark occasion

Why Piastri’s F1 homecoming will be a landmark occasion

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Australian GP
GP Racing

Why Piastri’s F1 homecoming will be a landmark occasion Why Piastri’s F1 homecoming will be a landmark occasion

The recent Australian GP form history that will boost Ferrari in F1 2023

The recent Australian GP form history that will boost Ferrari in F1 2023

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Australian GP
Alex Kalinauckas

The recent Australian GP form history that will boost Ferrari in F1 2023 The recent Australian GP form history that will boost Ferrari in F1 2023

The cycle of F1 upheaval Williams must end to rediscover past glories

The cycle of F1 upheaval Williams must end to rediscover past glories

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
GP Racing

The cycle of F1 upheaval Williams must end to rediscover past glories The cycle of F1 upheaval Williams must end to rediscover past glories

The state of play in F1's technical silly season

The state of play in F1's technical silly season

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Jake Boxall-Legge

The state of play in F1's technical silly season The state of play in F1's technical silly season

Ranking the top 10 pre-war grand prix drivers

Ranking the top 10 pre-war grand prix drivers

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Kevin Turner

Ranking the top 10 pre-war grand prix drivers Ranking the top 10 pre-war grand prix drivers

Why drivers are the least of Ferrari’s F1 worries

Why drivers are the least of Ferrari’s F1 worries

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
GP Racing

Why drivers are the least of Ferrari’s F1 worries Why drivers are the least of Ferrari’s F1 worries