Sebastien Buemi: Toyota Endurance Star, Toro Rosso Veteran and Formula E Champion

Sebastien Buemi's career has run through Formula One, Formula E and endurance racing. Born in Aigle, Vaud, he climbed the ladder through German Formula BMW, Formula Three and GP2 before reaching Formula One with Toro Rosso. Later he became a Toyota endurance star, winning four Le Mans 24 Hours and sharing a joint-record four World Endurance Championship titles.

He also raced in Formula E, where he took the 2015-16 championship with Renault and later finished second in the standings with Nissan e.dams in 2018-19. He announced that the 2025-26 season would be his last in the series, leaving him to focus on the WEC.

Where did Sebastien Buemi start racing?

Buemi moved from karting into German Formula BMW in 2004, finishing third in the championship, and was second in 2005. He was runner-up at the 2005 FBMW World Final. He stepped into the Formula Three Euroseries in 2006, finishing twelfth, and in 2007 he finished second behind Romain Grosjean.

Alongside that, he entered A1 Grand Prix with A1 Team Switzerland in 2006-07, which finished eighth as a team. In 2007 he was drafted into the GP2 Series at Monaco at short notice, qualifying fourth and finishing seventh on his debut.

GP2 then became his main platform. He moved to Arden International for 2008 and finished runner-up in the GP2 Asia Series with one win and four second places. In the main series that year he won twice and ended the season sixth. Earlier, in September 2007, he had driven a Red Bull RB3 at a Jerez test and was third quickest on the day.

Four Le Mans wins and a share of the record WEC haul, built alongside a Formula E title with Renault.

How did his Formula One years go?

Buemi raced for Scuderia Toro Rosso from 2009 to 2011 and became the first Swiss driver to take part in a Formula One race since 1995. His best results were seventh places in Australia and Brazil, and he finished sixteenth in both 2009 and 2010.

Toro Rosso confirmed him on 9 January 2009. He was promoted to seventh in Australia after Lewis Hamilton was disqualified, and he scored again in the wet at China, where he had started tenth. He finished the year sixteenth on six points, the best rookie of the season.

The 2010 Chinese Grand Prix practice session brought a serious moment. A front suspension wishbone broke under braking at more than 300 km/h (190 mph), and both front wheels came off. One wheel went over the fence into a spectator area, but nobody was hurt. Toro Rosso blamed a new front right upright for the failure.

He ended 2010 with eight points to the five scored by teammate Jaime Alguersuari. On 14 December 2011 the team announced that both drivers would be replaced by Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne for 2012. Buemi then returned to Red Bull as a test and reserve driver.

How did he win at Le Mans and in the WEC?

Buemi has raced in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota since 2012 and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022. He was the 2014 World Endurance Drivers' Champion alongside Anthony Davidson, and he won the 2018-19 title as well.

His early Toyota years were demanding. At Le Mans in 2012, his car was running third in the early evening when Davidson crashed heavily with a Ferrari. In 2013 Buemi finished third in the drivers' championship with Toyota, staying with the squad for a full season.

The 2014 season was the breakthrough. Driving the new Toyota TS040 Hybrid, he and Davidson took four wins and seven podiums from eight races to claim the title. Buemi is the only WEC driver to have stayed with one team and one manufacturer since 2012.

The 2018 Le Mans victory came first, followed by the 2018-19 WEC title. He added Le Mans wins in 2019, 2020 and 2022, which gives him four overall victories. His four WEC titles place him level with Brendon Hartley at the top of the all-time list.

Formula E from title winner to retirement

Buemi raced in the inaugural Formula E season with e.dams, partnering Nicolas Prost. His first race win came at Punta del Este, and he finished runner-up in 2014-15, one point behind Nelson Piquet Jr. Later that season he started from pole at Buenos Aires for the first time, but crashed out after leading. He then won at Monaco and at the first London race, both from pole, and finished second at Berlin.

The 2015-16 season was his title year. He won the opening round in Beijing with pole and fastest lap, and by Berlin he had three wins. The championship was settled at London, where a fastest-lap bonus point gave him the title after a clash with Lucas di Grassi at the first corner.

In 2016-17 he won the first three rounds, a first in the series. He missed the New York round to race for Toyota in the WEC and was disqualified from two races for technical infringements, and di Grassi took the title at the final race.

The 2017-18 season was lean, and he finished fourth with 125 points, his lowest standing to that point. Renault e.dams slipped to fifth, its first season without the teams' title. He then moved to Nissan e.dams for 2018-19 and climbed from 13th to second in the championship that year.

Buemi switched to Envision Racing in 2022, ending eight years with e.dams. Having finished the 2019-20 season fourth with Nissan, he was joint second on the all-time list of Formula E race wins with Antonio Felix da Costa. He then announced that 2025-26 would be his last season in the series, and he took an advisory role at Envision afterwards.

How did his Red Bull reserve role work?

Buemi became a Red Bull test and reserve driver for the 2008 season. In January 2012 the team announced he would rejoin Red Bull Racing in that capacity while also supporting Toro Rosso, and he kept the role through 2013 and 2014. He was named reserve driver again for 2019.

The reserve role kept him close to Formula One without a race seat. In 2008 he drove the medical car at the Japanese, Chinese and Brazilian Grands Prix, covering for a regular driver who had an ear problem at the first of those. In 2020 he took part in the Young Driver's Test with the Red Bull squad at Milton Keynes, and by 2023 he no longer appeared on Red Bull's list of reserve drivers.

His 2009 Toro Rosso start was competitive in qualifying. At the Australian Grand Prix he outqualified his teammate Sebastien Bourdais in his first race, a sign of the pace behind his early points. The team's decision to drop him came at the end of 2011, and the Formula One chapter closed there.

Who did he race alongside in Formula E?

In the first Formula E season Buemi partnered Nicolas Prost at e.dams. He later drove for Nissan e.dams with Oliver Rowland from 2018-19 to 2020-21, then with Maximilian Gunther for 2021-22. In 2022 he moved to Envision Racing, where his partners were Nick Cassidy and then Robin Frijns.

The move to Envision was announced in October 2022, replacing Robin Frijns and partnering Nick Cassidy on a two-year deal. The 2022-23 season opened with sixth in Mexico City, and the Diriyah round brought fourth and sixth. At Hyderabad he crossed the line third, but a penalty for an overpower infringement dropped him to 15th.

Cape Town was harder. Pascal Wehrlein hit him on the opening lap, and he rebuilt a damaged car to fifth place. When Cassidy left for Jaguar Racing, Frijns became his partner for 2023-24, a pairing that continued into 2024-25. In August 2025 Buemi signed a multi-year extension that covered the 2025-26 season.

Family and early life

His grandfather, Georges Gachnang, was also a racing driver, and his first cousin Natacha Gachnang races as well. Buemi came up through karting before German Formula BMW, which gave him a foundation for his later step into single-seaters.

Back in 2013 he and Johnny Herbert coached six hopefuls on an ITV4 primetime reality show, aiming to turn Gran Turismo players into real drivers at the Dubai 24 Hour race. Other European countries ran their own heats, mentored by Vitantonio Liuzzi.

His home life moved with his racing. As of 2009 he lived in Bahrain with his family, he later spent time in Monaco, and he has since returned to Switzerland.

What is his legacy in endurance racing and Formula E?

Buemi's legacy rests on consistency. Within the WEC his loyalty to a single team and manufacturer since 2012 is unmatched, and he ranks alongside Antonio Felix da Costa among the leading winners in Formula E history. The series records show him among its most successful drivers for wins, poles, fastest laps and points. For a driver whose single-seater career began in German Formula BMW, that is a long and varied record.

His four Le Mans victories and four WEC titles place him among the most decorated Toyota drivers of his era, while the 2015-16 Formula E championship remains his biggest single-seater honour. The Formula One chapter was shorter, but it gave him a grid place at a time when Swiss drivers were rare.

What does his career table show?