Formula 1 an auction, says driver Jaime Alguersuari

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Former Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari
Jaime Alguersuari has been working as a summariser for BBC Radio 5 live

Jaime Alguersuari believes Formula 1 is "an auction" after failing to secure a seat for the forthcoming season.

The 22-year-old Spaniard was released by Toro Rosso at the end of the 2011 campaign and spent last season as Pirelli's tyre tester while working as a summariser for BBC Radio 5 live.

He claims he was assured of a seat.

Five-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio was funded by Juan Peron's government during his career

"Those who committed themselves with me have given reasons I must accept but I do not share. F1 has become an auction," Alguersuari said.

"I assure everyone I have been convinced for most of the 2012 F1 season that my seat was secured in a team that usually scores.

"They did tell me and I believed it to be true. Due to this conviction I passed up other opportunities in other championships."

BBC's chief F1 writer Andrew Benson says that "pay drivers" - those who bring sponsorship with them to secure a seat and which the Spaniard was referring to - "have been a fact of life for as long as the sport has existed".

Alguersuari was the 2008 British Formula Three champion before moving up to F1.

He joined Toro Rosso in 2009 and, at the age of 19 years and 125 days, became the youngest driver in history to start a Grand Prix when he took his place on the grid in Hungary.

The Barcelona-born driver is adamant he still has a future in the sport.

"I know how old I am, I know my track record and I'm convinced I deserve a winning car in F1," he continued.

"Is my career over in F1 at 22 years old? Despite everything, I strongly don't think so.

"So I will continue to be active in Formula 1 [with Pirelli], and complete more kilometres than any third driver in this discipline."

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146 comments

  • F1 is a shadow of it's former self. And why? Because of the determined greed of Bernie Ecclestone and the manufacturer led teams.

    You've only got to look at the deals done around the world with Sky, taking F1 off free to air in many countries, and 50% here also (shame on the BBC) to see that it's all about the money.

    Too many money men, not enough racers.

  • I would say here that yes, pay drivers are a fact of F1 life, but the fact here is that Mr Alguersuari has been shafted by a team who essentially promised him a drive.

    Obviously, don't believe anything until you're in the car and pen has been put to paper, but it is bad form of a team to do what they did & I would say that it's bad for writers to try and bury it in justification of Fangio.

  • Can't agree more with Alguersuari, it absolutely infuriates me the whole idea of a "pay driver".

    When you see someone like Max Chilton getting a drive I can't help but be a little bit sick in my mouth, especially when talent such as Kobayashi, Kovalainen and others miss out because they don't have a rich daddy (Aon Chairman) to buy them a nice toy (Seat in F1)

    Well done Max you earnt it (Y)

  • If there is any truth to what he claims, it sounds like they used him as a banker against not getting the drivers they wanted; then cut him loose when it worked out for them. Pretty shoddy, if accurate.

    Still, Jaime, if someone tells you that you're secure, get it in writing!

    We're destined to see more crash-tastic Maldonados until someone gets a grip on pay drivers' influence on teams.

  • I've been a fan of the budget cap for ages. This would remove the need for pay drivers. The compensation for a budget cap, would be more "engineering freedom. "4 wheels and a seat! How fast can you go". I don't really see too many problems with that as a very broad brush concept. The only ones that lose out are the corporate whores and celebrity hangers on. Engineers, drivers and fans win.

  • Has he forgotten he was only in F1 via a team which only employs Red Bull sponsored drivers?

    Team that usually scores? Sutil's not a pay driver. Maldonado won a race. I assume he' means Sauber, but Gutierrez was a GP2 podium regular - hardly short of pedigree.

    Algersuari's F1 results were mediocre and his qualifying poor - but Grosjean is proof you can get another chance with the right attitude.

  • JA stepped up from F3 straight to the big leagues at 19. Seems like that's made him a bit arrogant if he thinks he definitely warrants a drive in F1. I certainly never saw anything from him to make me think he was right up there. Go have a year or two in GP2. If he can win that, fair enough, maybe he is good enough. But so far he's done nothing to prove that he is.

  • @76: Couldn't agree more. Hamilton's lap yesterday was unbelievable - particularly given his laissez-faire attitude while actually driving! And to beat SV's time by 1.1 secs supports the comment he made while being interviewed - namely, that SV has won because he has the best car (and team?!), and not because he is the best driver. Can't wait for the season to start ...

  • I'm afraid I have very little sympathy for Jaime. Back in 2009, the Red Bull backing he received helped him leap from an average season in the Renault World Series into an F1 seat, bypassing many drivers with better CVs.

    Not a pay driver in the conventional sense, but not really different from one. After two years, the team that had helped him into F1 decided to cut him loose.

  • Ok so we have pay drivers, i can accept that. What i won't accept though in that case are TV commentators claiming that "these are the best 22 drivers in the world" when they line up on a Sunday anymore.

  • Although I am a big fan, if nothing changes, F1 may collapse altogether. BERNIE OUT!!!

  • Isn't it funny that the BBC who have an obsession with anything Hamilton suddenly are unable to produce an article when Hamilton appears on the BBC in Top Gear.

    They are only quiet about it because they are absolutely gutted at how well Lewis did.

    Keep chewing on those sour grapes BBC!!!

  • F1 has become one of the dullest sport on the face of the planet with most "races" becoming little more than a procession following the first few laps. Most overtaking occurs when cars are in the pits for whatever reason and what goes on off the track has become of greater interest than what occurs on the track.
    The "sport" needs a thorough overhaul.

  • Securing a seat is based on the country you were born in to secure TV audiences and a fan base, the amount of cash a driver can bring thru sponsorship. An average driver from a country that hosts a GP, who brings bundles of cash, gets ahead of a talented driver from a country that is 'over-represented' by other drivers. I'm surprised that Maclaren have never had a Bahraini Prince driving for them.

  • Meanwhile the 4 drivers who have been promoted from GP2 for 2013 all finished in the top six of last year's championship. 2nd Razia, 3rd Gutierrez, 4th Chilton, 6th Van Der Garde. Better than the likes of Kobayashi and Buemi. Let's not forget also that Maldonado and Perez finished 1-2 in GP2.

    Maybe Jaime should take a step back to GP2, a series he never raced in. If he wins it, great!

  • @12 While I'm here, I agree the "Sutil in line for shock F1 return" headline was probably the most overstated title I've read for ages, and shows how dumbed down and sensationalist F1 journalism has become on the BBC. Sutil has been linked to the vacant Force India seat pretty much since Hulkenburg moved on.

  • Both this and the funding crisis article show that F1 in its current form is unsustainable. The obscene amounts of money being siphoned of by Ecclestone only exacerbate the situation. Nothing will happen to rectify the situation until he goes or is forced out.

  • RE # 48's comment, Fangio racing under developed apes... I'm sorry but these days of paddles shifts, huge downforce, wide super sticky tyres vs the then heavy gearchanges, skinny tyres with no downforce ... I'd watch the later anytime, and those cars sounded beautiful as well...unlike the screamers you get nowadays.

  • Corporatism (control by large vested interests) is pretty much everywhere, not just Formula 1 or professional sport. The usual response to complainants is, "If you don't like it, leave".

  • Of course it is.....it's a rich mans game.

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