Bourdais to join Toro Rosso in F1

Bourdais has always wanted a career in F1

Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais will race in Formula One for Toro Rosso next season after deciding to turn his back on the US-based Champ Car series.

The 28-year-old, who has won the Champ Car title for the last three years, made the decision to fulfil a long-held dream to race in F1.

Bourdais moved to the US after failing to win an F1 drive despite winning the Formula 3000 title in 2002.

"It has been a long time coming," he said, describing his move as a "dream".

606: DEBATE Will Bourdais be a Montoya or a Zanardi?

Bourdais's move comes after he impressed Toro Rosso in a series of tests this summer.

And it marks a rethink of the Red Bull junior team's driver strategy, with both of the drivers who have raced for them since 2006 being dumped.

Bourdais impressed Toro Rosso in F1 tests this year

Last month they dropped American Scott Speed in favour of German Sebastian Vettel with immediate effect, and now Bourdais will replace Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Bourdais becomes the latest driver to try to convert success in the States to the much more demanding world of F1, a career path that has proved to have mixed results.

Canadian Jacques Villeneuve and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya proved competitive on both sides of the Atlantic.

But Italian Alex Zanardi was sacked after a single season with Williams in 1999 - after moving in the wake of winning two consecutive titles in the US.