Switzerland's Sebastien Buemi likely to race for Toro Rosso, says co-owner

Switzerland's Sebastien Buemi is likely to replace Germany's Sebastian Vettel at Toro Rosso next season, the Formula One team's co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz said on Monday.

Vettel, 21, has moved on to the main Red Bull Racing team following the retirement of Britain's David Coulthard and several drivers are queueing up to take his place at the race-winning team.

France's Sebastien Bourdais has also yet to be confirmed for 2009, leaving another possible vacancy.

"One will very likely be Buemi," Mateschitz told the autosport.com website. "The line-up will be confirmed before the last test in December."

The 20-year-old Swiss was the Red Bull reserve driver this year and tested with Toro Rosso in Barcelona this month.

He would be Switzerland's first Formula One driver since Jean-Denis Deletraz raced without success for the Pacific Ford team in 1995.

"I am young and I learn quickly. I think that all teams now try to have an experienced driver and a young driver, as you see for example, at Renault," Buemi told the official Formula One website (www.formula1.com) after the Barcelona test.

"The immediate past has shown that the young guys don't need too long to deliver results...Young drivers have shown that they can deliver almost straight away."

Vettel won the Italian Grand Prix for Toro Rosso in September to become Formula One's youngest race winner.