Bourdais reflects on his ouster

Sébastien Bourdais, now far from his adventure in Formula 1 with Toro Rosso, has regained his taste for victory in Superleague Formula. Over two weekends of competition, at Estoril and Monza, the Frenchman was named winner each time, despite his inexperience in the discipline. After his victories, the Frenchman returned to his adventure within the Team Toro Rosso. “ It could have gone really well », Confided the Manceau to 422race.com. “ At the beginning, with STR2, I remember people saying ?Bourdais must be good, since we know that Hag is good?. Then the STR3 arrived, a car that I couldn't drive, while Vettel was blazing. As the car was fast, there was nothing to say. He impressed me, I couldn't do anything. Everyone said “Bourdais sucks”. They had forgotten what I had done at the start of the season. »

Sébastien admits that, on a technical level, this version of the Toro Rosso did not suit him. “ It's a combination of things, from the choice of rear suspension to that of aerodynamics. It was an understeering car in high speed corners and very oversteering in low speed corners. I couldn't drive like that, I need a stable and well-balanced rear when entering a corner. When we wanted to fix the rear in slow corners, we increased the understeer at high speeds. It was very frustrating, we couldn't do anything because we weren't developing the car. Obviously, the driver in F1 is always responsible. »

After a difficult end to 2008 full of disillusionment, the Frenchman finally kept his seat at Toro Rosso. But 2009 was not going to be under the best auspices. “ The STR4 is ultimately the car with which I had the most difficulty and the worst driving time. » Furthermore, beyond difficult driving, the pilot knew that his situation was unstable. “They already intended to replace me mid-season, because the results did not match their expectations. »

Despite his ouster, the driver recognizes that Toro Rosso's decision to replace him followed a certain logic. “ It's obvious that you are tempted to put in the seat (during the season) a driver that you think you will use next season, due to the lack of testing. I can understand why they did that. »

On the other hand, the Frenchman, although he appears understanding, has still not digested the way he learned the news. “ I cannot agree with the way used, because informing the pilot, discussing it with him and finding an arrangement is one thing. But letting the press know about it - which means that when you land in Frankfurt, you have messages on your cell phone telling you that the internet is full of news announcing that it's your last race - that's not the case. is not a thing to do. »

After this ousting, the Frenchman thinks that Toro Rosso should change the way it operates. “ I'm not the first driver treated this way by Toro Rosso, unfortunately. You think people learn from their mistakes but, in fact, that's not the case. "In conclusion, the Frenchman can only regret the circumstances of this abortive end to Formula 1. " It?s the last impression left that counts and that?s a bit sad. People too often forget that the 20 drivers in Formula 1 are among the 30 best drivers in the world. You don?t get to F1 by luck. Maybe there are exceptions. But when you have won championships, when you have a track record, it is because you are not there by luck. You are here because you have talent. I think it?s the worst thing in F1. They just look at the results, because that's the only thing they can measure. »