Toro Rosso has Santa Claus to thank for bringing them Sébastien. It was Christmas 1993 when his father couldn't think what to buy his son as a present and got him a go-kart. This was something of an easy choice as Sébastien's grandfather once took part in the Le Mans 24 Hours and other events. As the karting grew in importance, it became very much a family event, with a whole tribe of people travelling all over Europe to support the youngster and his cousin Natacha, who also had the racing bug.

Sébastien quickly progressed through the various karting classes, taking Swiss and European titles, before moving up to single-seaters in 2004. In Formula BMW, he was soon spotted by Red Bull, which helped him to take that title before he went on to finish as runner up in Formula 3 and the Asian GP2 series. In 2008, he won twice in GP2, including an amazing victory from 21st on the grid, in tricky conditions, at Magny-Cours. Only six Swiss drivers have ever scored grand prix points, so Sébastien will be hoping to add to that list this year. Just getting to this level is something of an achievement as motor racing is banned in Switzerland, presumably because the noise of the engines might drown out the sound of cow bells or cuckoo clocks.