However, according to Spanish newspaper Marca, the only reason why STR is delaying an official confirmation for Alguersuari is the fact that the Faenza based outfit is yet to reach a definitive agreement with his sponsors. As everyone knows by now, the Spanish driver's seat in F1 is strictly connected to the sponsorship money he brings to Toro Rosso, therefore those contracts need to be secured before he can become an official STR driver.
According to the same source, the Scuderia's negotiations with the sponsors are going the right way and a final agreement is to be signed soon enough. It seems the deal will be for approximately 10 million euro, a sum that Toro Rosso considers vital to develop their own car for the upcoming season. And, unless Alguersuari's sponsors don't come up with that amount, other drivers will be taken into consideration by the Italian team.
It's already official the fact that the Faenza factory will design and build their own car this year, as compared to the previous seasons when they benefited from sister team Red Bull Racing's development centre.
Alguersuari stepped into Formula One in the middle of the 2009 campaign, when asked by Toro Rosso to replace Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais. The Spaniard has been part of Red Bull's young drivers development programme for years and began his F1 career without any prior testing of the car, still he managed to finish his first race in the series.
He is still to make the scoreboard in Formula One, after recording 5 DNFs in 8 races.
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