Alguersuari retains Toro Rosso seat
Date published : 22 Jan 2010 - 16:23:48
Toro Rosso has finally confirmed that Spanish teenager Jaime Alguersuari will continue to race for the team in 2010.
Although STR boss Franz Tost suggested towards the end of last season that 19-year-old Alguersuari and team-mate Sebastien Buemi would both retain their drives for a second season, the team had only officially confirmed Buemi's position in its line-up heading into the New Year.
However, following speculation that Toro Rosso may be considering alternative options to Alguersuari, the Faenza-based outfit announced on Friday that the Spaniard was staying on board for what will be his first full Formula 1 season.
Considering that he made his debut only halfway through 2009, at the Hungarian Grand Prix, with no prior testing, he did a good job, making steady progress throughout the second half of the year, with a mature approach considering he is still only nineteen years old, said team boss Tost.
This season, he will again face a steep learning curve, as all the circuits in the first part of the season will be new to him.
Jaime's appointment also confirms our team's commitment to bringing on graduates of the Red Bull Young Driver Programme.
Alguersuari was drafted into STR's race line-up from the Hungarian Grand Prix last July in place of the axed Sebastien Bourdais despite having no significant F1 testing experience, the Red Bull junior having spent the first part of the year competing in Formula Renault 3.5.
After becoming the youngest ever person to start a grand prix in his debut at the Hungaroring, the Barcelona-born youngster largely acquitted himself well during the season's final eight races and achieved a best qualifying position of 12th in both Japan and Brazil.
Alguersuari's first track appearance of 2010 is likely to come at the three-day Valencia test from February 1, STR having already confirmed to itv.com/f1 that it will roll out its new STR5 car in time for the opening test of pre-season.
The confirmation of Toro Rosso's second driver means that just four seats remain up for grabs on the expanded 26-car grid in 2010, with one drive left open at Renault and Campos respectively and two at US F1.
