Toro Rosso’s rising star will replace DC next season

It’s been the worst-kept secret in F1 for a couple of months now: Seb Vettel will step up and replace David Coulthard at Red Bull in 2009. When Coulthard himself called for Vettel to be his replacement last week, it became clear that the deal was 99% done.

This not-so-shocking news, which is set to be officially announced later today, at least puts paid to the rumour that Red Bull were sweet on Fernando Alonso - there is no way that Red Bull will want to ditch the uber-reliable Mark Webber.

Webber and Vettel looks like a strong pairing for Red Bull in 2009. Vettel will certainly keep Webber honest - something that DC has failed to do so far this season. No word yet on who will replace Vettel at Toro Rosso - we’ve said before that it would be great to see Bruno Senna get his chance. Watch this space…

BONUS VID Vettel makes his Toro Rosso debut: