That’s some serious helmet hair

Swiss F3 star Natacha Gachnang is the first female driver to sign up for the new FIA Formula Two Championship. Don’t be surprised if one day she makes it all the way to F1. The 21 year-old certainly has the genes to succeed in motorsport: she is the cousin of Red Bull test driver Sebastien Buemi, who looks set to win a 2009 race seat for Toro Rosso.

The new F2 category will use a new car based on a chassis built by Williams and an engine built by Audi.

Swiss rookie moonlighting as Jenson’s agent?

Sebastien Buemi says he would prefer to have Jenson Button as his Toro Rosso team-mate in 2009.

“I am hoping for a strong team-mate in 2009,” Buemi told Swiss daily Blick.

“I would prefer Button. However, Honda could return next season as the new cost-cutting measures could see budgets drop by 40 per cent.”

Sebastien Bourdais and Takuma Sato are both in the frame to fill STR’s second seat, but neither driver could match Buemi’s pace at Jerez last week.

Bourdais’ manager claims that the team wants to re-sign his man, but Bourdais admits he is struggling to find financial backing; the extra money Sato and Button offer may be the key factor in the team’s decision.

Button and Buemi would be an interesting combination of experience and potential, although Bourdais can be great on slicks and deserves a second chance in F1.

Japanese veteran in pole position for STR drive in ‘09

Takuma Sato will test again for Toro Rosso at Jerez next week (on 10-11 December, to be specific). The Japanese driver, who raced for the now-defunct Super Aguri team at the start of the year, has tested for STR twice already, and he clearly impressed the team enough for them to take another look.

“We obviously see this as a positive step but still nothing is decided for the 2009 racing season,” said Matthew Winter, Taku’s commercial manager.

Toro Rosso and Honda choose youth over experience

Looks like Rubens Barrichello is out of a job. We hear that Honda has decided - at last - on its driver line-up for next season. And the two lucky drivers are… drum roll… Jenson Button (no surprise there) and Bruno Senna.

Senna’s name brings with it a lot of financial muscle - enough for Ayrton’s nephew to get the nod over Rubens and Lucas di Grassi.

With new rules in place for 2009, we would have stuck with the experience of Barrichello (Murray Walker agrees), who didn’t do much wrong this year. He may be getting on a bit, but he is still a great driver, with at least one more season in him.

We’re yet to be convinced that Senna is the real deal - hype follows him everywhere, but much of that is down to his famous surname. Senna II will struggle to match Button’s pace, no doubt.

Meanwhile, over at Toro Rosso…

Bourdais, Buemi and Sato set to fight for a seat

Scuderia Toro Rosso, one of the only teams yet to finalise its line-up for 2009, will test a trio of drivers at Barcelona next week. The three men in the hot seats are:

1) Sebastien Buemi Red Bull’s Swiss test driver

2) Takuma Sato Japanese veteran

3) Sebastien Bourdais Speccy Frenchman who drove for the team in 2008, without impressing anyone much

So it looks very much like Buemi, Sato and Bourdais will be fighting for two seats - one man will miss out (yes, we are brilliant at maths) But which one?

Red Bull poised to ditch DC earlier than planned?

Vicious whispers in the paddock suggest that David Coulthard may not see out his final season in F1. The rumour goes that DC will compete in the Italian GP at Monza in a couple of weeks’ time, then step aside to let Sebastian Vettel take up his seat in the senior Red Bull outfit - something that was set to happen at the end of the 2008 campaign.

The rumour came about in the wake of Toro Rosso’s confirmation today that Sebastien Buemi and Takuma Sato will test for STR at Jerez later this month, with the quicker driver replacing Vettel in 2009. Some F1 insiders think Toro Rosso also intends to give Buemi and Sato a real trial in the last four grands prix of the year. That would leave DC out in the cold.

Will this happen? Read our verdict below: