Ousted Toro Rosso driver Sebastien Buemi could be handed a career lifeline by the Red Bull company, with an almost-plausible report from the Swiss media suggesting that he is in line to be the RBR reserve driver in 2012.
Buemi lost his drive with Toro Rosso at the end of 2011, when the Italian team pulled the surprise move of replacing both Buemi and team mate Jaime Alguersuari.Despite the most recent rumours prior to their announcement suggesting that both drivers could be retained for 2012, the team let both of their 2011 men go in favour of new Red Bull youngsters Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne.
With the remaining 2012 race seats having been almost all filled by the time of the STR announcement, it looked as if Buemi was left with little more than a DTM drive to aim for.
But a new report from Swiss newspaper Blick has suggested that Buemi could be in line to be rescued from F1 oblivion with a reserve role for the Red Bull F1 operation.
According to the report, Buemi would be the 2012 reserve driver for both Red Bull and Toro Rosso.
The brief Blick report carried no official quotes from either Red Bull or Buemi himself, however, and states that it is not clear if a contract has already been signed.
After STR confirmed he would no longer be driving for the team in 2012, Buemi himself admitted that there were few options that woul keep him on the grid for next season.
"Maybe there are options," he muttered to the same newspaper last month, "But it's still too early to say anything. Fortunately in the past years I have built up many contacts with most of the teams. So [hopefully] this pays off now."
The only available race seats for 2012 are the second drives at Williams or HRT, though with little in the way of sponsor backing, Buemi is not thought to be on either team's radars for next season.
The Swiss driver raced for Toro Rosso since the start of the 2009 season, enjoying his best season last year when he scored 15 points, including two 8th places in Australia and Hungary.
Former team mate Alguersuari is thought to be a possibility at HRT, with the team known to be keen on an all-Spanish line-up for next season.
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