The first spark between the two was set off in the very first lap of the Australian Grand Prix, when the Spaniard almost ran into his teammate in the first corner. Buemi angrily told reporters at the end of the race, which he finished in 8th place, that “it's not the first time it has happened, so I think we will be having a chat about it.”
While avoiding to answer to the Swiss racer, Alguersuari also blamed Buemi for bumping into Renault's Nick Heidfeld in Turn 11, following accusations from the German driver that a STR car touched him in the first lap and damaged the right sidepod of his car.
“I hit with Schumacher, but for Heidfeld I am not responsible,” said Alguersuari when questioned about the incidents he was involved in on Sunday, in the first lap. “I was right behind and saw exactly what happened. Seb (Buemi) was in corner ten fighting with the Renault and he hit him at corner 11.”
Heidfeld was intensively criticized for his performance at Albert Park last weekend, especially since his teammate Vitaly Petrov scored a podium finish. However, it was later revealed that the aforementioned contact between him and a STR caused damage to his car that eventually cost him almost a second per lap.
“I would definitely have scored some points,” argued Heidfeld in a post-race interview with Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, “but a Toro Rosso hit me in turns 10 and 11 and I lost 1.5 seconds every lap.”
The German was later backed by team principal Eric Boullier, who told the media that Heidfeld lost effectiveness of his KERS following the contact, as well as the balance of his car.
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