Finally, after ten tracks where he had never before raced a Formula 1 car, Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari will this weekend return to more familiar surroundings – the place of his F1 debut.
It was at last years’ Hungarian Grand Prix that Alguersuari became the youngest F1 driver in history as he replaced Sebastien Bourdais. The Spaniard is now looking forward to returning with a whole year of experience to draw upon.
“Last year's Hungarian GP was my debut in Formula 1 and what I remember best is actually finishing the race, because it was the toughest thing I had done,” said the 20-year-old. “It was good fun in a way, because I did not care about the lap times or my position, I was just driving the car.
“It was a great weekend and I had not expected to finish the race, as physically the Hungaroring is a very demanding track with no straights and lots of corners so there is no time to catch your breath and a year ago I was not at the right level of fitness required to be a Grand Prix driver.
“I am looking forward to going back there this time as, I was so inexperienced last year that it will be really interesting to see the track again with one year of racing in F1 under my belt.”
Teammate Sebastien Buemi is also looking forward to this weekend’s grand prix at a track he enjoys. “It is an unusual and very tight circuit which is a bit like Monaco, except not in a town, as you run with a lot of downforce,” explains the Swiss driver. “Maximum speed is not so important as you want the downforce for the corners. There is a real buzz at the track, as there is always a big crowd and we like that. On top of that, the city of Budapest is fantastic.
“I really enjoy driving here even if the track surface is very bumpy, which makes it tough physically. It's a fun race though, as we only encounter this type of circuit once a year, although for actual racing it can be a bit difficult because with no long straight and constant left, right, left, right series of corners there are no opportunities for slipstreaming another car to get past it.”
