Although Sebastien Bourdais is still technically a rookie, the Frenchman is older (he’s 29) than his debut competitors and is coming into Formula One on the back of winning a superb four consecutive championships with Champ Car in the US – factors that may make him the most likely candidate for rookie success.

Bourdais joins Toro Rosso, pitting him against the talented young German Sebastian Vettel for a team dynamic which could produce a strong rivalry.

Bourdais’ well-documented success in America with Champ Car means that his arrival in Formula One comes with a certain modicum of pressure. A phalanx of press journos have predicted success – and that is something that would have been playing on his mind before the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

‘This was a cruel welcome to Formula One for Bourdais, whose outstanding debut was ended by engine failure a mere two laps from the finish.’


Bourdais can boast driving experiences in karts, single-seater racing, Formula Three, as well as a hugely successful career with Champ Car. In his first season with the Newmann-Hass team he won pole position in his very first race, becoming the first rookie to do so since Nigel Mansell – not a bad person to share a record with. A fourth-placed standing after his first season with Champ Car saw him rewarded with the Rookie of the Year accolade, and what followed was a total domination of the sport, with Bourdais winning four consecutive titles, some of them at a complete canter.

Bourdais himself has set some modest early season targets, claiming that winning even one point at Melbourne would feel as good as a win. The Frenchman didn’t finish the Australian Grand Prix, and what will be even more heart wrenching is the fact that he was in fourth place at the time, points that would have been gratefully gobbled up by Toro Rosso. This was a cruel welcome to Formula One for Bourdais, whose outstanding debut was ended by engine failure a mere two laps from the finish.

Quite how Bourdais will cope with the rigors and idiosyncrasies of Formula One, and whether he will adapt from being a big fish in a small pond to being the exact opposite with the Toro Rosso team in F1 remains to be seen.

It is also questionable as to how Bourdais will handle racing at the back of the grid rather than mixing it near the top, although that may be a bit of a moot point after his excellent debut race (last two laps excepted). What is without question is Bourdais’ talent.