Sebastien Bourdais ponders over his F1 future

Looks like the first ever driver change in 2009 happens to be Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais. What a way to get fired eh.

Anyway the 30 year old was always in the danger of being dropped, with the way he has been churning less than desirable results these two years in Formula One.

With 27 races in total, he only has managed to pick up six points all this while for Toro Rosso, and his teammates have all outperformed him.

Last season a young Sebastian Vettel driving for Toro Rosso, sizzled F1 with his win in Italy and his prodigal driving earned him a move to RedBull. While this season, rookie Sebastien Buemi has also outdrove the four-time Champ Car series winner.

Bourdais is set to be replaced by Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari, a 19-year-old from Spain. You might get to watch this kid drive in the coming Hungary Grand Prix.

Of course Bourdais was pissed off at Toro Rosso decision and threatened legal action.

Bourdais was quoted, “I am very disappointed and shocked by the decision. I consider that, in doing so, Scuderia Toro Rosso have breached their contractual duties toward me. I have instructed my lawyers to review the situation including the possibility of issuing legal proceedings. I am even more frustrated by the team’s decision considering that the latter has been taken immediately before the Hungarian Grand Prix, where a new highly competitive racing package will be introduced. I am convinced that if I was given the chance to race with such new package I would have had the opportunity to achieve satisfactory results.”

I was surprised Toro Rosso didn’t talk with Bourdais over his performance and contract obligation, but opted for immediate dismissal. Maybe a pep-talk would do wonders for the Frenchman, and he would then not sought legal action, if he didn’t fulfill his end of the bargain.

Toro Rosso principal Franz Tost defended this action stating, “The partnership has not met our expectations and therefore we have decided to replace him as from the next round of the world championship.”