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'I don't think my future is under question' - Alguersuari

Jaime Alguersuari raced from 18th on the grid to eighth in Valencia © Getty Images

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• Race:
• European Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Jaime Alguersuari
• |
• Sébastien Buemi
• |
• Daniel Ricciardo
• |
• Franz Tost

• Teams:
• Toro Rosso

Jaime Alguersuari is confident his seat at Toro Rosso is not under threat after two drives through the field from 18th to eighth at the last two races.

Toro Rosso's Friday tester Daniel Ricciardo is often mooted as a replacement for either of the team's race drivers should they slip up, and is expected to secure a race drive next year. But after securing eighth place at the European Grand Prix and drawing level with team-mate Sebastien Buemi on points, Alguersuari is confident his position is not under threat.

"I don't think my future is under question or that I will be replaced," he told BBC Sport. "I don't care because I want to enjoy the best of Formula One. I do my very best job race after race and I think we can score some points at Silverstone. We had some problems but in life problems exist.

"You always need to push to recover problems and evaluate yourself and progress. I think we are doing a good job because we are recovering this pace we didn't have at the beginning of the year."

He said understanding the tyres over a race distance had been key to his recent turn in form and played down his qualifying performances, where he has been beaten seven times this season by Buemi.

"Even though I still struggle to get the best out of the tyres in qualifying, I feel I now have a much better understanding of how to use them in the race and that's definitely the best way round as the points are only given out after the race," Alguersuari added. "We were able to run at a consistent pace all afternoon, which was the key to this result and it's the first time this season that I have had this feeling from the car and I am happy about that.

"Apart from working well with the tyres, I think the updates the team brought here were also a contributing factor, as they worked well and that partly explains why my pace was really good."

Team principal Franz Tost believes there is more to come from Alguersuari.

"Jaime demonstrated he can deliver a strong race drive, getting a good start and then running at a fast pace from the early stages onwards," he said. "In general, his performance curve is going upwards so we can expect more races like this from him in the future."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.