Sebastien Buemi

Lore & Background

Buemi graduated from karting and spent 2004 and 2005 in German Formula BMW, finishing third and second respectively. He was runner-up in the 2005 FBMW World Final. He moved to the Formula Three Euroseries for 2006, finishing 12th, and finished second in 2007 behind Romain Grosjean. He shared driving duties for A1 Team Switzerland in the 2006–07 A1 Grand Prix season.

In GP2, he debuted at Monaco in 2007 for ART Grand Prix, finishing seventh, and later joined Arden International for the 2008 GP2 Asia Series, finishing runner-up. He scored his first GP2 win in the French sprint race and ended the 2008 season sixth in the championship. In Formula One, he drove the Red Bull RB3 in a test session in Jerez on 18 September 2007, and was confirmed as Red Bull Racing's test and reserve driver for 2008. At the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix, Buemi drove the medical car; he also drove the medical car at the Chinese Grand Prix and Brazilian Grand Prix.

He raced for Scuderia Toro Rosso from 2009 to 2011, scoring points in his first race and finishing 16th in the championship in 2009 and 2010. He was dropped after 2011 and rejoined Red Bull Racing as a test and reserve driver for 2012, continuing in that role for 2013 and 2014, and again for 2019. He participated in the 2020 Young Driver's Test with Red Bull. As of 2023, Buemi was not featured on Red Bull's list of reserve drivers.

Reader's Guide

Buemi signed a deal to contest the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Toyota in 2012, driving a TS030 Hybrid. In 2013 he continued with Toyota for a full season, finishing third in the drivers' championship. In 2014 he became World Endurance Drivers' Champion with Anthony Davidson. As of 2024, Buemi has won the FIA WEC four times and the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times, and is the only WEC driver to have remained with the same team and manufacturer since 2012. In Formula E, Buemi raced for e.dams Renault and subsequently Nissan from 2014 to 2022. He won the championship in 2015–16, and is joint second for all-time wins, tied with António Félix da Costa behind Mitch Evans. In 2022, he signed for Envision Racing.