Speculation intensifies that GP2 Series race-winners Bruno Senna and Sébastien Buemi may both be regular members of the F1 paddock in 2009 - but possibly only one of them in a race-driving role...

GP2 Series front-runners Bruno Senna and Sébastien Buemi could be set for promotion to Formula 1 in 2009 - though whether both will graduate directly to race-driving roles in the top flight is less clear.

Buemi, indeed, is already a test driver for Red Bull Racing in addition to his GP2 duties with Trust Team Arden, in which he sits joint sixth in the title chase, some 38 points adrift of pace-setter Giorgio Pantano following a torrid outing at Hockenheim this weekend that saw him slip three positions in the standings.

"I think it has been quite good until now," the Swiss star affirmed, speaking exclusively to Crash.net Radio. "I finished second in GP2 Asia, and I'm currently seventh in the main series, so for the moment everything is running quite well. For sure we've had some good races and some bad ones, but we'll keep pushing hard and hope to come back at the leaders.

"[The one-two for Arden in Magny-Cours] was really good, especially starting from P21. I was quite happy with that, and hopefully it will boost us until the end of the season. It's going to be hard, though.

"For sure they [Pantano and Senna] have got quite a large advantage at the moment in terms of points, but nothing is over yet and things can go well or badly for everyone. Hopefully I'll be able to take some points off them over the remaining races, and we'll see what happens."

Though he refused to be drawn on his own chances of becoming a full-time F1 driver in 2009 - the 19-year-old has been linked most prominently with Scuderia Toro Rosso in place of the Red Bull-bound Sebastian Vettel - Buemi did hint that one of his rivals has a very good chance of progression.

"I know that [STR co-owner] Gerhard Berger wants to put Bruno Senna in Vettel's place," he told the Tribune de Genève newspaper, whilst insisting of his own hopes: "It's difficult to say. I really want to be in F1 next year and I will do my best to be there, but for the moment the most important thing for me is to do well in GP2 and show Red Bull that I deserve a place in F1."

Buemi has been delivered a vote of confidence, indeed, from both Berger - who is continuing to play down the likelihood of seeing Senna at the small Faenza-based outfit next year - and BMW Motorsport Director Dr Mario Theissen, who lauded the potential of the former German Formula BMW Championship front-runner.

"In GP2 there are some good racers," ten-time grand prix-winner Berger told German publication Auto Motor und Sport. "Romain Grosjean is one of them, and Buemi."

"When he was in Formula BMW, he was very young but immediately very fast," Theissen told Swiss daily Le Matin. "He can still make the odd mistake, but I am following the GP2 championship very closely and I find that Sébastien is making consistent progress."

Whilst BMW-Sauber is based in Switzerland and is sponsored heavily by Swiss bank Crédit Suisse, Theissen would not be drawn on suggestions that Buemi is high on BMW's shopping list for 2009 - albeit most probably for a test driving role - admitting only: "Let's see how his season progresses…I am not saying no."

Away from the pressures of competition, meanwhile, the one-time A1GP star clearly appreciated his maiden visit to the Goodwood Festival of Speed with Red Bull a week ago - what he acknowledged was a rare weekend off.

"I really enjoyed it," he reflected. "It was the first time for me at Goodwood and the weather was nice. It was obviously my first time out on the circuit too - it's really narrow, but quite good to drive.

"Driving an F1 car up it is not so easy, though, because it was quite slippery. It was all for show, so I hope I made enough smoke to leave everybody happy."