After a difficult start to the season, Jaime Alguersuari has scored points in the last two races.
He is now level with team mate Sebastien Buemi in the drivers’ championship, both on eight points.
It’s a timely resurgence in form as the team are known to be considering promoting Daniel Ricciardo to a race seat.
| Sebastien Buemi | Jaime Alguersuari | |
| Qualifying position | 17 | 18 |
| Qualifying time comparison (Q1) | 1’39.679 (-0.553) | 1’40.232 |
| Race position | 13 | 8 |
| Laps | 56/57 | 56/57 |
| Pit stops | 3 | 2 |
Toro Rosso drivers’ lap times throughout the race (in seconds):
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | |
| Sebastien Buemi | 119.721 | 109.156 | 108.124 | 108.038 | 107.576 | 107.159 | 107.147 | 107.304 | 107.522 | 107.698 | 109.241 | 107.359 | 107.588 | 123.42 | 112.62 | 106.617 | 105.833 | 105.681 | 106.054 | 106.692 | 105.924 | 105.707 | 105.872 | 106.278 | 105.531 | 120.127 | 111.25 | 104.428 | 104.918 | 104.769 | 104.884 | 104.571 | 105.016 | 104.83 | 104.883 | 104.793 | 104.925 | 105.321 | 105.118 | 105.301 | 105.036 | 105.377 | 107.304 | 106.082 | 121.442 | 111.311 | 104.103 | 104.553 | 104.243 | 104.35 | 104.249 | 104.775 | 104.416 | 104.312 | 104.266 | 104.568 | |
| Jaime Alguersuari | 121.725 | 109.887 | 107.883 | 107.515 | 107.558 | 107.028 | 106.664 | 106.775 | 107.239 | 107.809 | 108.958 | 107.533 | 107.518 | 108.177 | 107.324 | 107.106 | 106.673 | 107.207 | 122.776 | 111.383 | 105.453 | 105.712 | 104.952 | 105.262 | 105.134 | 104.975 | 104.576 | 104.733 | 104.5 | 104.346 | 104.516 | 104.555 | 104.744 | 105.021 | 104.836 | 104.835 | 105.24 | 105.749 | 106.965 | 106.078 | 106.909 | 122.189 | 111.6 | 105.22 | 104.095 | 103.934 | 103.753 | 103.945 | 103.91 | 103.904 | 107.05 | 103.93 | 103.579 | 103.819 | 104.383 | 104.245 |
Sebastien Buemi
Buemi followed the strategy used by most drivers – three soft-tyre stints followed by a stop for mediums.
He started well, picking up three places, and later gained another due to Michael Schumacher’s woes.
The team made a close call to keep him out in front of the chasing Paul di Resta, Kamui Kobayashi, and Vitaly Petrov, who were right behind him after his final pit stop.
But seeing his team mate leap-frog him completely left Buemi baffled: “I’m not sure why I was not quick enough, as after the first stint I could no longer match my team-mate’s times, so we will have to look at the data.”
Sebastien Buemi 2011 form guide
Jaime Alguersuari
Alguersuari said he wasn’t concerned about being knocked out in Q1 for the third race in a row, as he had concentrated on perfecting his race set-up.
It paid off handsomely as he made up ten places to equal his best ever race finish.
Alguersuari bucked convention by making two pits stops – he came in for his second on the same lap Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber made their third, despite having only used soft tyres up to that point.
He came out of the pits in 11th place but poised to benefit from three cars who were yet to make their final pit stops.
Alguersuari said: “I am very happy with this result, especially after I only qualified in eighteenth place.
“It definitely paid off to concentrate on race set-up. This was a fantastic race and I want to thank my mechanics who worked so hard after the problems we had with my car on Friday during free practice. So this result is a reward I am happy to give them.
“Even though I still struggle to get the best out of the tyres in qualifying, I feel I now have a much better understanding of how to use them in the race and that’s definitely the best way round as the points are only given out after the race!”
Daniel Ricciardo
Drove Buemi’s car in first practice.
Jaime Alguersuari 2011 form guide
2011 European Grand Prix
Image © Red Bull/Getty images
Sam3110
27th June 2011, 14:36
Alguersuari said he wasn’t concerned about being knocked out in Q3 for the third race in a row, as he had concentrated on perfecting his race set-up.
I think you mean Q1 Keith :)
Anyway, I like Alguesuari, and as he is the younger of the two I would like to see him retain his place in the team instead of Buemi, as I feel he has more natural pace. However, if he is using practice to still setup his car, maybe he isn’t very skilled at learning the circuits and changing setups to get the most out of his car?
Sam3110
27th June 2011, 14:37
*practice AND qualifying
please can we have an edit button!!!!!!!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
27th June 2011, 14:38
Changed it, thanks.
Roger Carballo AKA Architrion
27th June 2011, 15:23
Well, he couldn’t do a single lap on Practice 2, and a few laps on Practice 3, at the very end of the session. So, this time, it seems pretty reasonable to use some of your qualifying time to setup your car.
BasCB (@bascb)
27th June 2011, 19:56
And it did work out perfectly for him in Valencia. His drive was certainly one of the highlights.
pride
28th June 2011, 0:03
Bourdais was kicked out for doing less damage to Toro Rosso. I think it`s time for Ricciardo
Todfod (@todfod)
27th June 2011, 14:41
Jaime needed this result, off late he had looked really lack lustre. I think he just bought some more races in that Toro Rosso seat with that performance, but I still think that Ricciardo will driver a few races instead of him this year.
d3v0 (@d3v0)
28th June 2011, 4:33
I agree here. It can be argued that Jaime’s points scoring positions in the past two races were a result of his team’s strategy more than his driving. He was out qualified by Buemi in both races. In fact, in Canada he started from the pit lane because STR decided to give him a full wet setup after he failed to reach Q2. He failed to reach Q2 in Valencia again as well.
Marco
28th June 2011, 10:36
But you also NEED TO MAKE THE STRATEGY WORK…
Jaime was very fast in Valencia and in Canada he was also doing great ON DRYING TRACK overtaking Maldonado, Barrichello and Rosberg… So, it was not just because of the wet setup… Buemi were not able to respond in both occasions… He was always more a qualifyier then a racer, direct opposite to Jaime… And as far as I know points are given ONLY ON SUNDAY…
kowalsky
27th June 2011, 14:52
They are so equaly matched that’s going to be a close call for the bosse this time. But one of them has no future at toro rosso, because ricciardo seams the real deal. Whao is going to be is interesting to see. I wouldn’t bet on any of those.
Marco
27th June 2011, 14:53
Nice to see Jaime ahead of Buemi in the standings, now… :) After race in Turkey, which was his lowest point, is his pace constantly improving… In opposite to others, I was pleased also with Jaime s drive in Monaco, where he overtook Buemi on track for 12th position… Pity about that unlucky incident, finishing ahead would definitely do him good… Now sorting out the quali, but I remember it was very similiar last year Buemi being faster on one lap, but it all completely change after race in Silverstone… I would welcome a replay of that situation… :)
Fixy (@)
27th June 2011, 15:46
I don’t think bringing rookies in early does good to their careers. Many drivers are seen as future champions and are brought up to higher categories too early, when they still aren’t competitive, and everyone thinks they’re not so good in the end. All drivers should be treaten in the same way, who wins gets promoted and in the end reach F1.
85Q
27th June 2011, 16:28
I really like jamies attitude, funny really as at the start of his career i really didnt.
I was really pleased to see him do well at the weekend. and in canada too. great drive!
so where do we place STR pace wise? what do they get these days from red bull? its really hard to judge them. As we dont really know how good either JA or SB are? i think they should put a steady hand in there before throwing another rookie at it, then we might have half an idea how quick the car is.
bobo
27th June 2011, 17:06
I thought it was an issue of RBR looking for somebody to replace Mark in the medium term. If they don’t think that Buemi or Jaime is what they are looking for they may be more than happy to ‘throw’ another rookie at it, not because they think he might be better, just because they have nothing to lose by trying him out.
Of course (as many have said) this might not be the best way to asses and develop a talented driver. As it happens though, they only need one every few years…
I was happy to see Jaime doing well too, and I am interested in seeing how the rest of the season will turn out for him.
TommyB (@tommyb89)
28th June 2011, 0:54
They get nothing from Red Bull apart from their sponsorship.
Xanathos
27th June 2011, 20:12
It will be interesting to see when ricciardo will finally come in and who he will be replacing. Since both drivers are equal on points now this duel will be interesting to watch during the next few races. But I’m pretty certain that one of them will have to go by the end of the year; Red Bull are looking for a replacement for Webber, most likely after 2012, and none of those seems to have what it takes to drive for a top team, even if they are good midfield drivers. It won’t hurt STR to try out Ricciardo for a few races, but he definetely won’t be ready for a RBR seat next year…
sato113 (@sato113)
27th June 2011, 20:47
could hamilton have done a two stop and finished on the podium?
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
28th June 2011, 0:21
A good race indeed from Alguersuari and not the worst position either for Buemi, considering where he started.
I remember the STR boys doing a good job of looking after their tyres early on, hope they manage to keep that form. Alguersuari is very young and I think he is doing pretty well!
antonyob
28th June 2011, 9:59
Great stuff. Ive been a fan of his since i saw a shot of him exciting the tunnel at Monaco in a 150mph over steer. May have been a fluke, you dont get to see that much of him but it was a fabulous sight.