Alguersuari Was Close to Losing STR Seat in 2010

In the early weeks of January, several rumors that appeared in the media suggested that Spanish teenager Jaime Alguersuari would probably lose his seat at Toro Rosso due to lack of sponsors. Although the speculations was hardly believed by many of the Spanish fans out there, Jaime's father yesterday confirmed that his son was very close to ending his F1 career before it even started.

Talking about that period of time, Jaume Alguersuari told Spanish newspaper El Pais that he looked desperately for sponsorship for his son, but every single sponsor he talked to – all from his native Spain – turned him down.

Under the circumstances, all he could do was go to the team's boss Franz Tost and present him with the situation, hoping that some solutions will be found to secure Jaime a full-season in the series. Eventually, it all worked out, although Jaume did not reveal how exactly that happened.

“At the time, it (the speculation) was true. I went to most of the large Spanish companies but had to return to (team boss Franz) Tost and say I found nothing. He was devastated. But in the end everything worked out,” said Alguersuari Snr, according to the aforementioned source.

The same source issued the information according to which Helmut Marko – the fierce talent seeker and motorsports advisor for Red Bull – was the one to convince Red Bull company owner Dietrich Mateschitz to retain Alguersuari for another season in F1.

It seems the deal was secured without any major backing for the 19-year old driver, the retainer for which he'll race the STR5 this season being around EUR300,000.