Musical chairs at Red Bull and Toro Rosso?
Since acquiring Minardi in 2005, Red Bull has two Formula 1 teams, allowing it to showcase several drivers from its development program, with Sebastian Vettel being the most brilliant example.
If Toro Rosso serves as a full-scale test, Sébastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari are ambitious and could see themselves in the world champion team, as Jaime Alguersuari stated last December.
If they are aiming for the upper echelons, it is because the competition within Toro Rosso is becoming increasingly intense with the presence of Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian has been appointed as the team’s third driver, allowing him to drive one of the two main drivers’ cars every Friday.
It is therefore an excellent opportunity for him to showcase his skills and secure a main seat for 2012, which is his primary goal. Here is his response when the Austrian site motorline.cc asked him if he saw himself in Formula 1 as early as… 2011: « That would obviously be fantastic, but my main focus remains on Formula Renault 3.5. We’ll see about the rest afterward. I aim to have a main seat in Formula 1 in 2012. » Even though he officially targets the championship title in the category, his chances were immediately compromised due to his absence for the first event because of the Chinese Grand Prix taking place on the same weekend.
But he will find another heavyweight rival in this category in the person of Jean-Eric Vergne, who holds the same position as him at Red Bull. The Frenchman who dominated the British Formula 3 championship last year has now also moved up to 3.5 but does not intend to stay there very long. He thus dismisses the idea of moving to GP2 next year and has his sights set only on F1: «Definitely not. I want to do a good job in Formula Renault 3.5 and secure a seat in Formula 1 in 2012.»
If Sebastian Vettel’s position is obviously out of reach for all these aspirants, there are three spots for five candidates. One of the keys will therefore be Mark Webber. He only extended his contract by one year last season while he was still contending for the world champion title. He could decide to end his career at the end of the season, which would free up a spot at Milton Keynes. But who would it go to? The bets are on, and some initial answers should come during the summer, as is traditionally the case.
With the participation of RacingBusiness.fr
