I was just trying hard to get a seat - Bourdais

Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais simply wanted to race professionaly, and he was even keen on finding a race seat somewhere in the United States if the Toro Rosso contract wasn't extended. And despite numerous test sessions with the Faenza based team over the winter, the contract was only finalized in early February.

"It's a nasty situation. You wait and wait and wait. I was obviously trying to investigate other options, because other than being a F1 driver, I'm a professional driver," Bourdais shared with 'crash.net'.

"At some point I was not hoping so much anymore; I was just trying hard to get a seat, in particular in the States. In the end Toro Rosso came back to us before anything in the States was completed, so here I am!"

Bourdais will race alongside rookie Sebastien Buemi.