Alguersuari: “Win with Toro Rosso to drive for Red Bull”

Jaime Alguersuari made his Formula debut in 2009 at the Hungarian Grand Prix by replacing Sébastien Bourdais. Since then, the young Spaniard has continuously improved, delivering impressive performances this season. However, he knows he must keep progressing if he hopes to join the Red Bull Racing team.

Alguersuari explained that he had a goal for 2012: to try to win a race in order to join Red Bull for 2013, following in the footsteps of Sebastian Vettel, who had won the Italian Grand Prix with Toro Rosso in 2008 before joining Red Bull from 2009 onwards.

What do I have to do (to be with Red Bull in 2013)? According to Helmut (Marko, the head of Red Bull’s young driver program), I have to win a race with Toro Rosso, that’s what he told me in Japan, so I’ll try. I have 20 races, and I have a chance like everyone else, even if it is slim, who knows, I’ll try, Alguersuari told Marca.

The Spanish driver has proven his worth over two seasons at Toro Rosso alongside Sébastien Buemi. In 2010, he scored 5 points compared to 8 for the Swiss driver. But this season, things have changed, Alguersuari has scored 26 points compared to just 15 for Buemi – notably securing two 7th place finishes in Italy and South Korea.

The South Korean Grand Prix is actually his best memory of the season, especially the last lap during which he managed to stay ahead of Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes GP.

(My best memory in 2011 is) the last lap in South Korea, without a doubt, in front of Nico Rosberg. I couldn’t believe that suddenly I could drive faster than a Mercedes.

Alguersuari is not the only driver in the running for a seat at Red Bull starting from 2013. Jean-Eric Vergne, Daniel Ricciardo, and Sébastien Buemi are also keen to join Sebastian Vettel if Mark Webber is not retained by the Austrian team.

The native of Barcelona knows that he will have to keep working to become even better, particularly when it comes to developing a single-seater car.

The car helped me a lot (this season) and I also provided interesting feedback, that’s for sure. I’m not an expert like Fernando (Alonso) or Michael (Schumacher), I’m not. I have less experience, only two years. And we changed tires, which used to last a very long time, and now you need experience to be more precise with the new ones. So I still have a lot to learn, added Alguersuari.