Alguesuari for Merc GP reserve driver role?

[John S]

Abu Dhabi, owner of STR sponsor Cepsa, unhappy Jaime dropped; may use influence at Mercedes to get reserve role for him at the German team.

Must be galling to tie up a big sponsorship deal only to find your planned marketing initiatve in tatters.    

After his Toro Rosso ousting, Jaime Alguersuari could emerge with the Mercedes team in 2012. The Spanish sports daily AS reports that Ipic, Abu Dhabi’s international petroleum investment company, is unhappy with Red Bull for ousting the young Spaniard from its driver programme.

IPIC owns the Spanish oil company Cepsa, which last year became a major Toro Rosso sponsor. Alguersuari, according to the report, "had become the image of the company in its international expansion plans".

Through its investment vehicle Aabar, Abu Dhabi is also involved in F1 as a significant shareholder and sponsor of the works Mercedes team.

AS said the Abu Dhabi link could see Alguersuari, 21, line up as the official reserve driver for Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg this year.

The report added that an Abu Dhabi-backed Alguersuari could be important to Mercedes, amid rumours the team’s title sponsor Petronas might leave the sport.

Petronas, the Malaysian oil company, recently stopped sponsoring the Yamaha team in MotoGP.

Nextgen-auto.com, Today.

[Dare]

Another example of not what you do but who
you know.

I wonder how many drivers of the current era come
from a humble family life?Only one I can think of
is Lewis

[John S]

Another example of not what you do but who
you know.

I wonder how many drivers of the current era come
from a humble family life?Only one I can think of
is Lewis

I'm glad you said humble Dare and not normal, very few top class sports people make it with what most would regard as a normal family life. All of them as kids usually spend years dedicated to pursuing sport, most to the exclusion of a lot of other things.

The list of drivers from humble beginnings, i.e. non wealthy or motorsport connected families, should also include Jenson, Mark and possibly even Seb Vettel. Not sure about some others like Alonso, Kobayashi & Kovalainen.