My top three LMP1 memories by Sébastien Buemi
The upcoming 8 Hours of Bahrain will go down in history as the WEC bids farewell to the headline LMP1 category before the introduction of the highly-anticipated Hypercar class for WEC Season 9.
Over the years, the WEC has seen some exhilarating LMP1 battles between the likes of Porsche, Audi and Toyota and one driver who knows this better than most is Switzerland’s Sébastien Buemi. Indeed, Buemi has been a regular with Toyota Gazoo Racing and its LMP1 programme since 2012 and is in the running for securing his third LMP1 drivers’ title with the marque next month.
FIAWEC.com asked Buemi to name three of his favourite memories from his time in LMP1, here’s what he had to say:
2014: Becoming World Champion
“Becoming World Champion alongside Anthony [Davidson] was an amazing feeling and one of my most cherished LMP1 memories. It had been a special year starting the season with Nicolas Lapierre and finishing with Anthony. Beating both Porsche and Audi was obviously a huge achievement for us and I still feel really proud to have won the first FIA World Endurance Championship title for Toyota.”
2018: Winning Le Mans for the first time
“Of course, winning Le Mans for the first time in 2018 was amazing - especially after what happened in 2016. Winning Le Mans is just the dream of any endurance driver. We’d had such a difficult time at Le Mans previously: in 2014 we had the best car but it didn’t come together and in 2016 retiring during the last lap was heart-breaking. Kazuki [Nakajima] was with me to experience that and when we crossed the finish line two years later, it was just incredible. It was even more special to do it with Kazuki as he understood what it meant after what we had been through together.”
2020: Taking the Le Mans hat-trick
“Winning Le Mans again in 2020 has to be my third favourite memory in LMP1. It’s always amazing to win Le Mans but to win it twice and then to win it three times is pretty impressive. You start to feel like you are becoming someone special in Le Mans history. Brendon [Hartley] is also a dear friend. We were living together when I was around 16-years-old and to find myself sharing the car with him several years later was something special. Then to win Le Mans together was just amazing!”
