Speculation has been intense this season as to whether Toro Rosso will maintain the drivers they currently hold for both the remainder of this year and for 2012. Yet, it seems the young Spaniard of Jaime Alguersuari is the driver most under pressure from their Australian reserve driver, Daniel Ricciardo.
Jaime Alguersuari, who began his life at Toro Rosso as a reserve driver himself, became a full-time driver at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2009, taking the wheel from Sebastian Bourdais. Alguersuari had won the British Formula 3 series and seemed to arrive at Toro Rosso with alot of promise as a young driver.
It may also be said that Toro Rosso, Red Bull Racing's sister team, were looking for the next best thing following Sebastian Vettel's move to Red Bull in 2009. Despite this, his three years in Formula One have led to 24th, 19th and, so far, the position of 13th in the Championship standings. With the current season looking like it could be his best yet it is almost strange to see that Alguersuari is under threat. However, his success, if you can call it that, has only just begun, with many bottom-end results and two retirements, Alguersuari has cemented his name by securing two firm eighth's in his last two races, putting him one position higher in the championship standings than team-mate Sebastian Buemi.
As expected Alguersuari is almost defensive, as well as philosophical, when asked about his potential sacking: “I think I'm doing a good job… I don't think I can be replaced or that my future is under question, I don't care… We have some problems, but in life problems exist.”
It is understandable that when faced with many questions about his future at Toro Rosso, and possibly in Formula One as a whole, Alguersuari shows how truly passionate he is about the sport and how he will fight to the best of his ability to stay in F1.
It remains to be seen whether Alguersuari is in a position to keep his contract that has a further three years to see out, but whether he is or not, at one point in his career Torro Rosso and Red Bull Racing saw potential for him to be a great racer. The one thing he is not, is Sebastian Vettel, and it would be unfair to draw any comparisons between the two drivers.
