Alguersuari eyes seat at Toro Rosso

Wednesday 1st July 2009

New Red Bull reserve driver Jaime Alguersuari has set his sights on a seat at Toro Rosso for the 2010 season.

The 19-year-old Spaniard, who will take over from Brendon Hartley as Red Bull's back-up driver at the German Grand Prix, says he hopes to follow in the footsteps of Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Buemi, who both started out as reserve drivers.

"My main objective and aim is to be as a race driver at Toro Rosso, this would be for me the best," he told Autosport.

"It's going to be tough, also because there is not much testing to do. But once you get to F1, everything changes - we have seen that with guys like Sebastien Buemi and Sebastian Vettel.

"My main goal is to get to learn in F1; to develop as a driver there, because it's the best place to learn. You have seen drivers start in Formula 1 very young, they learn there and get better, and I think that's what you want to do. Like Fernando Alonso, he started at Minardi at, what, 21? He learned there, he moved to Renault where he was still learning and he won championships there. Now you can look at guys like Vettel who are doing the same.

"I think it is the philosophy of Red Bull to give drivers a chance to do that, and I think that's the best philosophy too. You see what Buemi has done, and what Vettel has been able to do, and it gives you a lot of confidence and motivation that you could do the same.

"You just have to trust in Red Bull and try to show them that you deserve a chance, and earn it. To be the reserve driver for Red Bull and Toro Rosso is very positive and for me it's just the first part of it."

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