Jaime Alguersuari: A force in Formula One to look out for
Born on March 23, 1990 in Barcelona, Spain, Jamie Alguersuari currently holds the honour of being the youngest driver ever to have competed in a Formula One race. Mirroring the example of his grossly talented fellow countryman Fernando Alonso, Alguersuari became the first Spanish teenager since Alonso to make it to Formula One’s pay sheet. Undoubtedly, it was a hard act to follow. However, Alguersuari has so far proved his mettle across the globe.
Like most aspiring race drivers, Alguersuari sought to begin his driving career with an initial stint at kart racing - an activity he took up at the age of eight. After producing several promising displays at local Karting events, Alguersuari set his sights on wider horizons and progressed to contest at the European level. The young Spaniard did not disappoint and conjured a series of exceptional performances over the period of two years to be crowned the youngest Spanish Championship winner ever at the 2004 event. In the same year, he also distinguished himself at the Champions International Cup; remarkably finished fourth in the Italian Open Masters competition and notched up the aggregate seventh position in the overall European championship rankings.
In 2005, the young Spaniard kept up his kart racing exploits and proceeded to clinch his second successive Spanish championship title. In addition to winning a second place in the FIA World Cup Asia Pacific, Alguersuari embarked on his very initial excursion into the single-seater racing arena where he won twice with the Tomcat squad to secure the aggregate third position in the rankings while contesting at the Formula Junior 1.6 by Renault Italy series.
Unsurprisingly, Alguersuari’s stunning form grabbed him a seat in the much cherished Red Bull young driver programme and the greater financial muscle afforded by the move opened further gateways for the Spaniard, enabling him to contest the celebrated Italian Formula Renault 2.0 series in the 2006 season. Here Alguersuari managed to by far outshine other rookies and become the youngest contester ever to have made it to the podium. The same season witnessed the Spaniard score four wins in the Formula Renault winter competition and end fifth in the Formula Renault Eurocup rankings.
The seventeen-year-old teenager prolonged his stay in the Italian and Eurocup Formula Renault series to the 2007 competitive season; a stint that would afford him some considerably worthwhile race driving training. The Spaniard ended as runners-up in the Italian championship title race and stood fifth in the European series before advancing to compete in the British Formula Three series for the 2008 season. It was the right move to make for the Spaniard considering the important role British F3 has played for decades in helping to start the ball rolling for countless would-be Formula One stars including the likes of the legendary Ayrton Senna, Jenson Button and David Coulthard.
Alguersuari made an instant impact on the championship after managing to take the pole position on six different occasions, booking 12 podium standings and five victories only to be crowned as the youngest driver ever to have done so. Meanwhile, the ambitious teenager complemented his British F3 run with some racing experience back in his home country where he sealed impressive victories in Jarama and Valencia.
The Formula One racing world – eager on searching for promising new talent to replace its ageing guns - was not blind to the promise offered by Alguersuari and the Spaniard was offered a test drive by Austrian drink manufacturing giants Red Bull. In 2009, Alguersuari was summoned by Red Bull and Toro Rosso to fill in the void left by substitute driver Brendon Hartley. Later in the season, following the Grand Prix event in Hungary, Toro Rosso signed the Spaniard up as a first choice driver to make up for the exit of veteran competitor Sebastian Bourdais. It was drive Alguersuari would manage to hold on to for the coming 2010 season in spite of his inability to produce something exceptional on the track.
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