Toro Rosso light a fire under Seb and Jaime
- Published on Nov 26th, 2010 by Jack LamureToro Rosso have announced that Red Bull's latest wonderkid, Aussie Daniel Ricciardo, will be their third driver in 2011. He will contest first practice at every race on the calendar, alternately replacing Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi.
The announcement comes in the wake of Ricciardo's superb performance at the recent young driver test and amidst mounting speculation that he would replace Buemi at the team for 2011. That possibility has now been put to bed, but with Daniel contesting FP1 the pressure is very much on both the 22-year-old Swiss racer and his team-mate Alguersuari.
Credit: Red Bull Media.
It's recently come to light that both Toro Rosso drivers are only secure in their drives until mid-way through 2011. At that point they'll be assessed and either have their contracts ended or be given a fresh deal. The presence of Ricciardo will ramp the pressure up a notch for both men.
Badger fully expects one of the two to get the boot and be replaced by the new kid on the block at some point next year - unless of course both manage to produce Vettel-like displays in the STR car. That's unlikely, if we're honest, and by mid-2011 each will have had two years - in Buemi's case two and a half - of F1 experience. If they haven't cut the mustard by then they'll likely be asked to move on.
So who will it be? Who should it be? And why should it be? Hey, maybe you think both deserve to keep their seats. Let us know in the comments section below.
What they said.
Team Boss Franz Tost: "When our team was created, its stated aim was to bring on young drivers from the Red Bull Junior Programme, so Daniel's appointment as our third driver is an obvious one. Although Daniel has done some F1 testing already, running on Fridays at the Grands Prix will give him a valuable insight into the additional pressures of doing it for real during a race weekend. I am also sure that having a hungry youngster on the books will keep our current driver pairing nice and sharp!"
Daniel Ricciardo: “I am really excited at the prospect of driving for Scuderia Toro Rosso in the Free Practice 1 sessions at the Grands Prix next year, so I have to say thanks to Red Bull for this great opportunity. My main priority for 2011 is to win the Formula Renault 3.5 championship, but my ultimate aim is to be a full-time Formula 1 driver and this new role has to be the best step towards achieving that ambition.”
oh and i’d love to see a mark webber movie he is the most...
Comments and Discussion
As past form has shown, once Toro Rosso get it into their heads that they want to get rid of a driver, then that's what they'll do. It's not a question of who, it's whether they'll allow Buemi to even start the season. I should think there's also pressure from the "A-Team" following Ricciardo's performance in the Young Driver Test to get the Australian into a race seat while he has the cloud of hype hovering over him.
It will be cruel to Buemi, he outscored his younger team mate (good job you didn't take that bet!), but was in amongst the upper midfield less often than the Spaniard.
It would probably do Sebastian more good to allow his contract to be dissolved then cry "injustice" than to be put under pressure to over-perform and be seen to be bumping into things every session.
The team weren't bothered when they decided Speed and Liuzzi had to go, so if there's any inclination that Buemi will be replaced next year then they'll make it happen.
Personally i believe it's a mistake, the entry age of drivers is getting younger and younger and the gap between a career starting and reaching F1 is getting shorter which affects the individual's learning and maturity. A guy may feel he's ready for F1 at 20 but i don't think they are, a racing driver needs to cut his teeth in lower formulae and learn to temper speed with racing guile, and i'm not just talking about F2 and GP2. The young guys aren't getting the chance to do that nowdays, the gap between single seater careers starting and then peaking at F1 is getting shorter. Too short.
I'd be in favour of a limit of perhaps 23 or 24 being imposed for entry into F1, at least then we don't run the risk of seeing this attitude of "get them into F1 fast" producing a World Champion who is a pi**-poor overtaker.
Oh wait..
Was my bet about points? I think I said Jaime would out-perform Seb and, once he had decent mileage, I think he did. He was clearly the better driver in the second half of the season.
As for young drivers, I'd say the problem is more a lack of testing. As long as the test ban stays in place yes, it's dangerous for a 19 year-old with limited experience (like Alguersuari). But then an age limit would be unfair as it'd allow your Yuji Ides and Riccardo Rossets in whilst leaving a Vettel or a Hamilton on the sidelines simply because of their age. And they couldn't even test an F1 car. If a team thinks your ready at 19 and is willing to sit you in their fragile, multi-million dollar car then you'd have to believe they are.
It was worded neutrally between the two come to think of it: "Who will do a better job in 2010?"
One could argue for both being that Jaime was generally less erratic and quicker, but Sebastian had the most points. The points are what matters to the current team, but the speed and consistancy is what matters to other teams!
Well done, we both won a fiver!
With the age limit, i think we're at a stage where it could be implemented being that there are more drivers currently available who have driven a 2009/10 car in battle.
Rubens and Michael have shown that the unspoken upper age limit of 40 doesn't really apply if the driver's heart is still in it, so why do the teams wish to theoretically put everyone else at risk by putting a kid in the car?
One of these days, a youngster is going to do something really dumb which he hasn't thought through or tried out in a lower formula, and people are going to get hurt. Yes i realise there is a risk of this in all motorsport, but the faster the cars, the further the debris spreads.
THEN everyone will start questioning why they're brought in so early.