• Toro Rosso news

Alguersuari refuses to blame Red Bull

Jaime Alguersuari will see fellow Red Bull Junior Driver Jean-Eric Vergne drive for Toro Rosso next year alongside Daniel Ricciardo © Sutton Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News:
• Buemi 'shocked' to lose Toro Rosso drive
  
• News:
• STR a 'rookie training school' - Tost
  
• News:
• New driver line-up at Toro Rosso
  

• Drivers:
• Jaime Alguersuari

• Teams:
• Toro Rosso

Jaime Alguersuari has refused to blame Red Bull after losing his Toro Rosso seat, but admits the news was "very surprising and unexpected".

Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi were both replaced at Toro Rosso, with Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne coming in. The decision appears particularly harsh on Alguersuari who has spent less time at the team and had comfortably outscored his team-mate in 2011. Alguersuari admitted that the news had been "unexpected" because he'd already had encouraging talks with the team.

"Just a week ago after karting in Brazil I talked with Helmut Marko and Franz Tost and they told me they had plans for me in 2012," Alguersuari said. "They did so with enthusiasm and showed a lot of confidence in me."

Despite being dropped, Alguersuari said he would not feel hard done by because he had enjoyed Red Bull support to get in to Formula One himself.

"After talking with them (now), I thought of three things: first, I will not judge the situation because it seems crazy that after debuting at 19 years old without ever doing a lap in F1 before, today's news seems to be a major misunderstanding in the best moment of my sporting life. I will not judge the decision because since 15 years old Red Bull gave me everything.

"Second, I am not a victim because for seven years I have enjoyed the privilege because of them. And third, there is no drama, because I have many plans for the present and the future. The surprise lasted for a couple of hours but I have talked to my family and realised that life is full of opportunities and challenges."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.