Early in 2007 Sebastien Bourdais had all but given up on his Formula One aspirations. Having won the French F3 title in 1998 the Frenchman spent three years in the F3000 championship, culminating in championship success in 2001. Formula One was in theory the next logical step.

Bourdais tested with both Arrows and Renault in 2002, but was unable to conclude a race deal amongst rumours that he and Renault boss Flavio Briatore did not see eye to eye.

With limited options in Europe, the Frenchman looked to the US Racing scene and soon to embark on an incredible career in the Champ Car World Series.

With Cristiano da Matta moving to Toyota and Formula One, the Newman/Haas squad tested and then snapped up Bourdais for the 2003 season. Bourdais' first win came at Brands Hatch in that same year and he would go on to record another 30 wins and four straight championships between 2004 and 2007.

Despite his impressive track record, Bourdais was not making much progress in his Formula One aspirations. With Nicolas Todt taking over managerial duties in 2007, a possibility of testing with Toro Rosso emerged and this was all it took for Bourdais to finally get a foot in the door.

Bourdais faced a tough challenge in 2008 as he teamed up with rising star Sebastian Vettel at Toro Rosso Ferrari. While his team-mate held the upper hand over the season, Bourdais proved to be Formula One material.

17th position in the championship with four points does not tell the full story as Bourdais was able to challenge his highly-rated team-mate on a regular basis. Rookie errors combined with wretched luck such as at Monza where he qualified on the second row only for the car to fail, summarised Bourdais' debut season in the sport.

With no real financial backing, there was some doubt that he would get a second shot at the series in 2009 with the Toro Rosso team alongside rookie Sebastien Buemi, but in early February the team confirmed the Frenchman for the year.