Sébastien Buemi has revealed that his contract to race with the Toro Rosso team in 2009 was signed almost three weeks ago. The Red Bull-owned squad only announced on Friday that the 20-year-old Swiss, who was Red Bull Racing's test driver in 2008, will make his grand prix debut this season.

But Buemi, who lives with his uncle in Bahrain, told the Swiss newspaper Blick that he actually put pen to paper before Christmas. “I signed my contract on 22 December,” he said, “but until now I have not been allowed to say anything publicly.”

The last Swiss driver on the F1 grid was the backmarker Jean-Denis Deletraz, in 1995.

Source: GMM