Rosso speaks, Williams jumps
2012-01-09 13:47
SEBASTIEN BUEMI: Quick call, quick call-up.
Sebastien Buemi received a phone call from the Williams F1 team soon after Toro Rosso announced its all-new driver lineup for 2012.
Swiss Buemi, 23, and his 2011 team mate Jaime Alguersuari each admitted to surprise when the Red Bull rookie team announced on December 14 they were being replaced by Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne.
TEAM SUGGESTION
Veteran Blick correspondent Roger Benoit revealed that Buemi, who subsequently accepted the role as reserve driver for the senior team Red Bull Racing, "got a call from Williams a few hours after" Toro Rosso's news hit the news wires.
Benoit suggested that Williams might sign both Adrian Sutil and Rubens Barrichello to partner Pastor Maldonado in 2012.
"(Buemi) will be well paid to be the Red Bull reserve - and the job is for every race," he wrote.
Oxfordshire, England-based Williams, winner of 16 Drivers' and Constructors' championships, finished an abysmal ninth in the 2011 points.
"What an humiliation," Germany's T-Online quoted Sir Frank Williams as saying, "but we deserved it. We simply did a bad job."
