why do people think that they will be used as Vettels 'whipping boy'. The main reason Webber states as the cause for his perceived favouritism towards Vettel is because he's been their boy for so long, but so have Ricciardo and Alguersausi, both have come through the RBR driver program.
Yeah that's something I've always thought helped Alguersuari a great deal. It makes him look very talented climbing from 18th to 8th every few races, but to be fair, he's not the only one who's done it. In quite a few races, the midfielder who has been knocked out of Q1 has gone on to score points, so yeah, he does get an advantage from tires. I think Buemi is the more experienced and better, although slightly more underrated driver.
a few races in an HRT and someone is now pronouncing him a future WDC. And everyone is pointing to his first 5 races this season and ignoring all his latest, no surprise really.
10 times the driver knocked out in Q1 has gone on to score points - Alguersuari has benefited the most. With the Bridgestone saving a set for the race didn't matter, but there is a clear advantage between a fresh and scrubbed set of Pirelli's. China: 18th-3rd (Webber) Turkey: 24th-10th (Kobayashi) Spain: 24th-8th (Heidfeld) Canada: 18th-8th (Alguersuari) Britain: 18th-10th (Alguersuari) Germany: 18th-9th (Kobayashi) Hungary: 18th-8th (Buemi) Belgium: 24th-5th (Schumacher) Italy: 18th-7th (Alguersuari) I hope Marko is intelligent enough to make the right decision next year. He's already on the right track: http://www.yallaf1.com/2011/07/18/marko-says-buemi-is-better-than-he-seems/
Interesting. Apparently Marko has always been fond of Buemi but likes Alguersuari for the money he brings in. Could be a contributing factor in next year's driver choices. His opinion may have changed since then on either driver (the article is from July 18th), but apparently he is also fond of Ricciardo. In terms of driver choices, they may be between a rock, a hard place, and a giant block of concrete. I reckon next years pairing should be DR and SB anyway. Good article though
If Alguersuari proves to be a whipping boy, he should be dropped. Indeed Webber should probably have been dropped after his performance this season. They need to take long term decisions, not short term ones. It would be a good long term decision to get as many lads from the training program into the main team as possible, to encourage the very best youngsters to join RBR rather than other schemes. Alguersuari is in my opinion more likely to lose the seat than Ricciardo, so Alguersuari in 2013 increases the chance that a third driver gets into the Red Bull in a shorter time. It would be a good long term decision to let Ricciardo learn his trade in the midfield for an extra year: some would argue that not doing this has hurt Hamilton in the long run, or indeed Kimi Raikkonen a few years previously. Would Kimi have gotten bored of the sport if he had to fight his way from Sauber to Williams before getting a really big drive? On a related note, it would be a good long term decision not to put someone in the fastest car unless he is either a whipping boy, or mentally ready for a WDC shot. Having someone capable of beating Vettel (a la Hamilton vs Alonso in 2007) but liable to cracking under pressure (a la Hamilton in 2007) could cost Red Bull a title.
tbh it's only over the last few months I've changed my mind over Alguersuari, tbh I think he came in too young (5 years younger than Senna, who was a brash kid then) and have often thought there should be a minimum age for racing (testing and practice a bit younger). It would be a shame to see someones F1 career end at 21, that said Buemi is only 22. Are they too young? I don;t thik he'd do that much worse than Webber tbh, the problem is Redbull just have too many drivers, Webber has to go to make space otherwise he's just stifling the careers of the others.
