Alguersuari reserve driver at Mercedes?
The 100% renewal of Toro Rosso's lineup in 2012 left Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari out in the cold. While the Swiss driver found refuge as a third driver at Red Bull, the Spaniard might well take on the same role at Mercedes.
In any case, this is what the Spanish daily AS Sport reports, according to which the IPIC, the International Petroleum Investment Company of Abu Dhabi and commercial partner of Toro Rosso through its Iberian subsidiary Cepsa, is very unhappy with Alguersuari’s removal from the Italian-Austrian team.
For IPIC, Jaime Alguersuari had become: « the image of the company in its international expansion plans ».
However, through its investment subsidiary Aabar, Abu Dhabi is also involved in Formula 1 as a significant shareholder and a sponsor of the Mercedes team.
This could therefore allow Alguersuari, placed by the IPIC, to become the backup for Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg within the German team.
Moreover, the links between Abu Dhabi and Mercedes could prove to be very important for the team, in light of persistent rumors about Petronas withdrawing as the main sponsor of the Silver Arrows.
