Sebastian Vettel was unveiled today as Red Bull Racing’s choice to replace David Coulthard for the forthcoming 2009 season.
The young German has been part of the Red Bull project for a very long time, and was sponsored heavily during his time at BMW Sauber. He made the jump across to Scuderia Toro Rosso for the end of 2007 and this 2008 season.
With David Coulthard retireing there was rumour Fernando Alonso would join the Milton Keynes based squad, but instead Vettel who is tipped to be the next Michael Schumacher will race with them.
“We are delighted that Sebastian will be joining us next year,” said team principal Christian Horner.
“With David Coulthard announcing his retirement as a Formula One driver a fortnight ago at the British Grand Prix, after careful consideration, it seemed natural to announce his replacement here at Sebastian’s home race in Hockenheim.
“As he was already part of the Red Bull family, choosing Sebastian as Mark Webber’s team-mate was not a difficult decision. However, we have always stated that our aim is to have the strongest available driver line-up and Vettel’s selection also matches these criteria.
“Having only turned 21 at the last race and with only 17 Grand Prix starts to his name, he is still on a learning curve, but it is clear that he has plenty of ability and speed. We are confident that Red Bull Racing will make the most of these attributes and believe that, in Mark and Sebastian, we have a very competitive driver line-up for 2009.”
