- 33,155
- Hammerhead Garage
Okay, time for one of my patented crazy posts: could Jaime Alguersuari wind up at Williams?
For this to work, it does require common sense to prevail, but the timings work out nicely. Back when the team was negotiating with Kimi Raikkonen, Frank Williams said that he wanted to finalise his driver line-up in time for Christmas. But with Raikkonen going to Lotus, that is going to upset his timeline. The first thing he would do is stop and take stock of things rather than rush to a decision on another driver - and apparently he did just that, because Sebastien Buemi said Williams called him and offered him a seat. Buemi turned it down, but I'm willing to bet that Jaime Alguersuari received a similar call.
Williams' contract with AT&T ran out on January 1st. I can find no evidence that this was a sudden turn of events for the team; it appears that they were gradually phasing AT&T out at the time. They have since said that they have been talking to a "major mobile phone company". Looking at the list of mobile phone providers, I cannot help but notice that Telefonicia is the fourth-biggest in the world. Vodafone and America Movil (Claro is their major brand) are already spoken for, and China Mobile works in markets that have little connection to Formula 1.
Telefonicia have been involved in the sport before, and they like their Spanish drivers - they were a secondary sponsor or Renault before Alonso moved to McLaren. When Alguersuari appeared on the driver market without warning, I can see Telefonicia viewing him as a young Spanish driver with plenty of potential, and the Williams name being one of the most recognisable in the sport. They've had a poor year in 2011, but their ability to turn themselves around will probably be a major sub-plot to the 2012 season, which would probably get them a lot of coverage that Telefonicia could buy into. And with Alguersuari's reputation for providing succinct and accurate feedback on the car, he could very well be the kind of driver Williams would look at. And of all the available drivers, he's probably the best candidate out there. Better than Sutil, even.
So, Alguersuari to Williams, anyone?
For this to work, it does require common sense to prevail, but the timings work out nicely. Back when the team was negotiating with Kimi Raikkonen, Frank Williams said that he wanted to finalise his driver line-up in time for Christmas. But with Raikkonen going to Lotus, that is going to upset his timeline. The first thing he would do is stop and take stock of things rather than rush to a decision on another driver - and apparently he did just that, because Sebastien Buemi said Williams called him and offered him a seat. Buemi turned it down, but I'm willing to bet that Jaime Alguersuari received a similar call.
Williams' contract with AT&T ran out on January 1st. I can find no evidence that this was a sudden turn of events for the team; it appears that they were gradually phasing AT&T out at the time. They have since said that they have been talking to a "major mobile phone company". Looking at the list of mobile phone providers, I cannot help but notice that Telefonicia is the fourth-biggest in the world. Vodafone and America Movil (Claro is their major brand) are already spoken for, and China Mobile works in markets that have little connection to Formula 1.
Telefonicia have been involved in the sport before, and they like their Spanish drivers - they were a secondary sponsor or Renault before Alonso moved to McLaren. When Alguersuari appeared on the driver market without warning, I can see Telefonicia viewing him as a young Spanish driver with plenty of potential, and the Williams name being one of the most recognisable in the sport. They've had a poor year in 2011, but their ability to turn themselves around will probably be a major sub-plot to the 2012 season, which would probably get them a lot of coverage that Telefonicia could buy into. And with Alguersuari's reputation for providing succinct and accurate feedback on the car, he could very well be the kind of driver Williams would look at. And of all the available drivers, he's probably the best candidate out there. Better than Sutil, even.
So, Alguersuari to Williams, anyone?
Based on the evidence at hand, they're not. You can't expect Red Bull and Toro Rosso to make driver decisions based on what might happen in the future, especially when there is no evidence in the past to substantiate it. They need the two best drivers available to them at any given time, and they obviously feel that Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne are those drivers. Why should they commit to Buemi and Alguersuari for another year? They had their chances. Red Bull obviously feel they haven't done enough to retain their seats. Dropping them is harsh, but that's the nature of the beast.
