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Podiums are unrealistic - Alguersuari

Testing has gone well for Jaime Alguersuari and Toro Rosso © Sutton Images

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• Drivers:
• Jaime Alguersuari
• |
• Mark Webber

• Teams:
• Red Bull
• |
• Toro Rosso

Jaime Alguersuari has said that Toro Rosso are not targeting podiums this season, instead aiming to move to the front of the midfield runners.

Some impressive testing times have raised expectations at the Red Bull-owned team, with the innovative STR6 looking like a significant improvement on last year's car. Alguersuari said this was down to the team having more freedom to develop the car themselves.

"This one is the first Toro Rosso fully developed by the team without relying on Red Bull," he told El Mundo. "Because with last year's car there were things in common with the previous one. The truth is that it is going well, I think better than last year, but we still don't know the true potential. It seems fast, but we don't know exactly where we are until Australia."

Despite the encouraging winter, Alguersuari said that it was unrealistic to think about challenging the front runners for podiums.

"It would be a dream, but realistically our struggle is not with Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes or McLaren. We can't compete with them either in budget or another way. The adversaries we need to overcome are Force India, Sauber, maybe Williams. That would be satisfying to us."

With all of the teams saying that they don't know where they stand compared to each other, Alguersuari has initially set his sights on beating the one man he can truly measure himself against: team-mate Sebastian Buemi.

"Yes, I think I'm ahead of Buemi," he said. "He has a great talent and can do laps faster than me, but there are many things to put together: endurance, maturity, mental strength, rhythm ... and overall I think I'm ahead."

The battle between the two Toro Rosso drivers is seen as key, with a future drive at Red Bull the potential prize. And Alguersuari said that is an aim that is firmly in his mind. "Of course that's the first target. That is clear, very clear. Having a great car is the most important thing and Red Bull's is the best."

With Sebastian Vettel signing a new contract with Red Bull on Monday, speculation linking the world champion with a move to Ferrari was quashed. But Alguersuari will be targeting Mark Webber's seat, after the Australian was quick to signal his intentions that he too would relish driving for Ferrari.

"Driving those red cars has always held that romantic attraction," Webber told the Herald Sun.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.