They've certainly dragged it out, those guys at Toro Rosso, but now we have the answer to the question - who will take the second seat in 2009?

Sébastien Bourdais has secured the drive. We thought as much yesterday, when it was revealed he would be back in the car at the Jerez test next week, but you can never be sure. Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost said:

He now knows the F1 environment, the race tracks and the team. In addition, the slick tyres, which make a comeback this year, should suit his driving style very well.

- Franz Tost

It's really good to see a driver getting a second chance in a team. It has seemed of late that at the lower ends of the grid, you only get one opportunity to make your point. If you're good (like Vettel) you move up, if you're bad (like... no, I won't), you're dropped.

Dank raised a very good question in the comments: "Why did the web-people at Red Bull remove the French language version from the STR site and replace it with Japanese?"

It seemed as though things were falling in Sato's favour, but I think perhaps it is simply money rather than talent that made the final decision. His manager suggests:

...the team made no secret about the fact that they would need the drive to bring a substantial amount of funding to the team to secure the drive. We have all been working very hard and have been able to attract a significant amount of sponsorship to support the team but unfortunately it was obviously not enough to secure the drive.

I imagine everyone involved wanted Sato to get the drive, but in the end the Frenchman brought the funds. It could make things a little tricky for Le Seb to start with, if the team are wondering what might have been, but I like to think it's just another chance for him to prove them all wrong.