Sébastien Buemi reflects on his experience with Red Bull and Toyota

Sébastien, let’s first talk about your past weekend. You were able to participate in your second 24 Hours of Le Mans race with Toyota. After a retirement last year, you made it to the podium, finishing second. Which feeling prevails: the satisfaction of being on the podium or the disappointment of not being at the top step?

« As a driver and knowing myself, it’s more the frustration of not having won the race. I can’t tell myself that I’m running a race where my goal isn’t to win. So automatically the first thing I felt was that I was disappointed to have finished second. But with a bit of hindsight, knowing the situation, it’s still a good result for the team in general. It shows a nice improvement compared to last season and that’s what’s most important. »

Have you changed your way of preparing compared to last season when you were discovering endurance? Is your approach still the same? What has changed, personally and as a team?

Endurance racing is quite different, even if it goes somewhat in the direction of what we have in F1. So I had to get used to the way of driving in traffic. It’s not something you’re accustomed to before really doing endurance races. Otherwise, I came in as if I had to learn everything. I didn’t come in thinking I already knew everything because I had done F1. So I stayed focused on what I had to do. For now, I think I’ve made a good transition, it’s going well. But I haven’t changed anything compared to my preparation method in F1.

This year, you are competing in the entire endurance championship with Toyota instead of only the 24 Hours of Le Mans. What are your goals for the rest of the season?

For now, we are third in the championship, one point behind second place but still very far behind first place. It’s clear that in terms of performance, we are still far behind Audi. We must face the facts; since the start of the championship, they have been better than us. We have still managed to narrow the gap, and we will certainly have the opportunity to fight for victories until the end of the championship. The goal is really to take one race at a time and do my best. That’s more important than trying to aim for the championship.

Is your main goal to become a full-time F1 driver again, or does your current situation (reserve with the world champions and a full-time driver in one of the top endurance teams) meet your expectations?

To be honest, it’s a situation that is quite comfortable. There aren’t many endurance drivers who are still third drivers in F1, and there aren’t many third F1 drivers who can have a full championship on the side. Logistically, it’s certainly not always easy to manage, but my main goal remains to return to F1. I’m not hiding it. That said, I am very happy and grateful for the opportunity Toyota gives me to be present in endurance racing. So my goal is to do the best possible in endurance and to do a good job of development at Red Bull. If a spot opens up afterward, I will jump at the opportunity.

We learned at the beginning of the weekend that a spot would open up at Red Bull at the end of the season with Mark Webber’s move to endurance racing. But Christian Horner already stated on Friday that you were not being considered for this position. Did you know this in advance?

« Not really. I always do my best whether it’s in the simulator or outside, and the team has always been very satisfied with me. So I found out at the same time as everyone else. »

Does the development work you are doing on the TS030 Hybrid have any impact on your work as a reserve driver at Red Bull? With the level of performance converging between the two disciplines, are you able to learn lessons in one discipline and apply them in the other?

« Yes, sometimes it happens that we manage to create synergies and bridges between the two. Of course, I try to use my experience to help as much as possible, be it Red Bull or Toyota. However, we are still talking about two very different technologies, the cars are quite different, but if I can see an area that can help, I will seize the opportunity. »

This must be even more true on the circuits where you compete in both categories?

« It’s clear that when you’ve driven on a track in F1, coming with a less competitive car is always an advantage because you already know the limits of the circuit. »

Does your experience driving a hybrid vehicle at Toyota have advantages in preparing for the 2014 F1 season, where KERS will have a much greater impact on vehicle performance than today?

« For the moment, engineers have been working very hard on this change for a while. In the end, we need to prepare very well because it is a very big change. It’s one of the biggest changes in the regulations in nearly twenty years. It’s really something we need to prepare for. If I can use my years in endurance, surely in the simulator, that’s something I will do. »

How do you manage your schedule between the significant development work at both Toyota and Red Bull?

« It depends on the time of year. With Red Bull, there’s sometimes a lot of work, I’m often in the simulator. When the team travels to distant destinations like Australia or China, there’s a bit less work with Red Bull. But at those times, I worked a lot with Toyota because we had to prepare for the 24 hours. Last year, it was more with Red Bull because after Le Mans, it was over. Before that, we had done all the preparation tests and then it was finished, whereas with Red Bull it’s all year round. For this year, I don’t yet have the experience of a full season with Toyota. So in the end, I would say it’s 50-50 between the two but with different workloads throughout the year. The big difference is that with Toyota, I do a lot of kilometers in the car, which is not the case with Red Bull. Here, I do a lot of kilometers but in the simulator. »

Can you explain the different tasks you perform at Red Bull?

I also handle the show runs, aerodynamic tests, film shooting days, marketing operations, and I attend all the Grand Prix. So there’s a lot of work, especially since we have many sponsors at Red Bull, whereas at Toyota, it’s mainly a lot of driving.

Are you also involved in commercial operations at Toyota?

« A small downside because it’s a factory. A manufacturer is there to promote the brand. So yes, we do operations, but it’s not at the level of what we do with Red Bull. »

The Toyota endurance team is a former F1 team. Do you see major differences in operations between what you have at Red Bull and what you find at Toyota?

« No. It’s really a great thing, I feel very comfortable in both teams. At Toyota, I don’t feel destabilized at all. I don’t think that I’m not being treated like an F1 driver, it’s not like that at all. It’s a very professional organization, very similar to what we have in F1. However, there are a lot more drivers since there are six. So you can’t be treated exactly as in F1 but it’s still something that works very well. »

And compared to your experience as a full-time driver at Toro Rosso, do you see significant differences between Toro Rosso and Red Bull?

« Red Bull, we see why it’s the world champion team. Firstly, there are more resources. Secondly, there are extraordinary people at Red Bull, with Adrian Newey, the drivers, Christian Horner… These are people who have won a lot and they know how to bring a car to victory. There aren’t huge differences because Toro Rosso wasn’t Minardi either! It’s a team that’s on the rise, which has improved over time, but there is indeed the intention to have an A team and a B team. »

In endurance racing, you have six different drivers, three of whom must share the same car. So you can’t be in the ideal position to make compromises for your teammates. How do you handle that?

« It’s not necessarily easy to manage because we’re used to only thinking about ourselves in Formula One. You have to keep in mind that if your teammate doesn’t feel good in the car, they won’t be competitive, and if they’re not competitive, it’s not good for you. It’s a different way of thinking, which isn’t easy because in F1, we only think about ourselves and about beating our teammate, beating our teammate, and beating our teammate! Here, your teammate has to perform well. I’ve adapted well, and regarding the compromises in the car, I’m not very complicated. I can drive even if it’s not optimal. Whether it’s oversteering or understeering, I know how to adapt. Some drivers have very specific preferences, whereas I can drive fast with all types of cars. »

During the Monaco Grand Prix, Red Bull leaders emphasized the importance of your contribution during the weekend, making a round trip to Milton Keynes to perform important work on the simulator and make adjustments ahead of the Grand Prix.

In Monaco, it’s a bit special because the weekend starts earlier and there’s that break day in the middle. So we use it a lot to make new developments in the simulator. It’s been two years in a row that it has brought significant improvements. It’s something we try to do every time, but it doesn’t always work. Sometimes, we remain similar to what we had before because we don’t always find major things. In Monaco, we really found something that made a huge difference on the car, and Red Bull wanted to highlight it.

From our special correspondent in Silverstone