Toro Rosso confirms Bourdais' exit

Date published : 16 Jul 2009 - 08:23:41

Scuderia Toro Rosso has officially confirmed that Sebastien Bourdais will leave the team with immediate effect and will not be racing at the Hungarian Grand Prix next week.

Team boss Franz Tost said the relationship had not produced the results the team expected, and thus the four-time ChampCar champion will be replaced."In Sebastien's second year with us, the partnership has not met our expectations and therefore we have decided to replace him as from the next round of the World Championship, the Hungarian Grand Prix," said Tost.Bourdais made his grand prix debut with the Faenza-based squad last season, scoring five points on his way to 17th place in the standings.

This season, the Frenchman has struggled to match the performance of rookie team-mate Sebastien Buemi, who has outqualified Bourdais seven times in nine races.Bourdais, the only French racer on the grid, becomes the first driver to be replaced this season.

The team said it will confirm its second driver in due time.Bourdais is expected to be replaced by Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari, who will become the youngest driver to compete in Formula 1 in Hungary.