Sebastien Bourdais cut a pretty downcast figure as 2009 dawned.

Having finally got his overdue Formula 1 break with Toro Rosso, the multiple Champ Car champion looked set to lose his seat following just one frustrating season.

But when the cost-cutting rule changes meant STR no longer needed a well-funded driver, it was able to give the sponsor-less Bourdais a second chance after all.

Last year saw only flashes of promise from the Frenchman, but he is adamant that given a season’s experience and a car that suits his driving style better, he will be able to show F1 what it was missing during his American exile.


Career log

An all-conquering, four-time champion in the US-based Champ Car World Series, Bourdais had just resigned himself to being overlooked by F1 when Toro Rosso came calling in late 2007, offering a series of tests, and ultimately a 2008 race deal.

It was unfortunate for Bourdais that F1’s brief love affair with Champ Car talent ended as he arrived in the series.

By the mid-2000s Champ Car was a shadow of its former self, with the fields short on both quantity and quality.

Bourdais’ dominant, record-breaking, form therefore attracted little interest in the F1 paddock.

He had seemed destined for F1 when he won the Formula 3000 title and tested for Arrows and Renault in 2002.

But his unwillingness to sign a management contract with Flavio Briatore ended his association with Renault, and Arrows collapsed just weeks after his impressive test.

Champ Car’s mighty Newman/Haas squad threw Bourdais a lifeline, and he set the tone for his US sojourn by securing pole on his debut.

A very strong rookie season saw him take three wins and fourth in the standings, as he interspersed sparkling performances with some lower-key races and the odd error.

But that was just a rehearsal for what followed, as Bourdais proceeded to take Champ Car by storm from 2004 to 2007.

He won just over half the races held in those four seasons, and swept to an unprecedented run of championships before F1 finally opened its doors to him.

While Bourdais’ on-track achievements in America won universal admiration, his off-track conduct was not always so praiseworthy.

His quest for perfection was such that his rare defeats often resulted in lengthy diatribes against rivals or officialdom, prompting fellow drivers to accuse Bourdais of poor sportsmanship and whingeing.

Ultimately, however, the moaning and the dominance were both symptoms of Bourdais’ thirst for success and his distaste for defeat.


The early years

After winning the 1999 French Formula 3 title, Bourdais had a promising F3000 debut season with Prost’s junior arm in 2000, highlighted by pole at Monaco.

He was punted out at the first corner however, in an incident that typified his rookie season.

He switched to the once-mighty DAMS team for 2001 and secured its first win in five seasons, before becoming a title contender with Super Nova the following year.

Bourdais led the championship at mid-season, only to be overhauled by Tomas Enge in the closing rounds.

It looked like the Czech driver had snatched the title, until Enge’s failed drugs test saw Bourdais crowned as champion a fortnight after the finale.