The Spaniard was brought to Faenza to replace ousted Sebastien Bourdais midway through the season, and was promised a full-time drive with the Red Bull-backed team in 2010. With no prior testing and practically no experience in F1 racing whatsoever, Alguersuari was not under pressure to perform in the second half of the season. Everybody assumed he was in fact getting used to the F1 car for next season.
However, only Buemi received the go-ahead for the upcoming season, as Alguarsuari is currently placed on the stand-by list by Toro Rosso. Apparently, his situation now depends on the sponsorship money that got him an F1 drive in the first place, as the team is still waiting for those sponsors to commit to their 2010 campaign in F1.
“We have re-signed Buemi for next season, but we have not yet signed Jaime,” a Toro Rosso spokesman confirmed in a media outing with the BBC.
Alguersuari doesn't seem to worried about it though, as he reckoned it was the lack of testing that caused his point-less season in 2009. He did, however, expressed hopes that next season will bring him his maiden points in the series and a more consistent performance in the championship.
“I hadn't done almost a single kilometre (of testing) when I debuted so it was like going to the slaughter-house. But I am satisfied with what I did, especially towards the end. I hope that next year I have less technical problems,” admitted Jaime in an interview with EFE news agency.
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