Sponsor Pushing for Jaime Alguesuari to Join Mercedes GP as Reserve Driver

January 31, 2012

A sponsors intervention may have helped Jaime Alguesuari secure a reserve drive seat at Mercedes GP in 2012.

Cepsa brought into the Scuderia Toro Rosso (STR) fold to capitalise on Jaime Alguersuari’s involvement but was disappointed with the firing of the Spaniard with STR also axing his team mate Sebastien Buemi even after the team had a successful season, just losing out on sixth place on the constructors standings.

Torro Rosso known for being a feeder outfit for its sister team Red Bull Racing decided to cut the drivers to make way for new and inexperienced talent in the form of duo Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne.

Cepsa’s parent company, Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company, was disappointed with the decision to axe a driver it considered ‘the image of its international expansion plans’; and, according to Spain’s ASnewspaper, could use its influence to find him in the top flight.

Another IPIC arm, Aabar, is a major shareholder at Mercedes Petronas GP and the report claims that the link could see Alguersuari given the chance to slip into the back-up role at Brackley, supporting Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher. With Petronas having recently ended its MotoGP sponsorship, there are doubts over the longevity of its F1 involvement, and Alguersuari’s arrival could be useful in providing a replacement.

Alguersuari has already said that he would not consider the second seat at HRT, the Spanish-based operation having the only known vacancy remaining for 2012 , but has yet to confirm any other plans for 2012, unlike Buemi and Nick Heidfeld, who have both headed for sportscar rides.

Discuss Jaime Alguesuari’s release here