Sebastien Buemi says he is confident of securing a race seat with Toro Rosso for the 2009 Formula One season on the back of his recent strong performances for the Italian team in testing.

Buemi topped all three days of running at Jerez last week as Toro Rosso continued to evaluate drivers for next season, with Sebastien Bourdais and Takuma Sato also taking to the track during the Spanish test.

However, GP2 racer Buemi is hotly tipped to be in pole position for one of the drives and he said he was hopeful a decision would be made soon on what his future plans will be.

"The team still has time to choose," he told the official F1 website. "For sure I hope the decision will be made soon. It would be good to know before Christmas, but I am not in a hurry. I feel very confident based on my test results, so I'll await the team's decision.

"It was really good for me to be at the top of the list, especially in front of my team mates or, to be precise, in front of the two other contenders for a cockpit. So I was very satisfied and hopefully they'll make a positive decision for me in the near future. I am quite confident at the moment as I did all I could. All I can do now is wait. But as long as there isn't a decision, I don't want to think about it too much."

Buemi continues to test this week at Jerez, albeit now with Red Bull Racing as Mark Webber continues his recovery from injury, and having set the pace on the two opening days, he said he was enjoying the extra time at the wheel.

"The days when you are able to drive an F1 car really matter," he said. "I was only supposed to drive for one day, but now I am in for another two days because of Mark's accident. And that means I am gaining two more days in the cockpit and that is important. Especially because I will be driving alongside Sebastian Vettel on day two and three of this test, and that promises to be a good lesson for me.

"I am convinced that it will make me better. At the moment I feel that I am improving day by day, getting used to the car, getting used to the tyres - and getting used to Formula One. I am really thankful to Red Bull for giving me that opportunity and I'll do my best not to disappoint them."