Alguersuari remains positive

Jaime Alguersuari admitted his surprise after hearing the news that he was being dropped by Toro Rosso for the 2012 Formula One season, but the 21-year-old Spanish driver remains positive.

Toro Rosso announced they would be dropping both Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari after three years together and will go into the new season with a new line-up in the shape of Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne.

Both Ricciardo and Vergne have come through the same Red Bull Junior Driver programme and Toro Rosso announced that the decision was based on giving two new youngsters their first step into Formula One. Just as three years previously they had done with Buemi and Alguersuari.

Since making his debut for the team mid-way through the 2009 season in Hungary, Jaime Alguersuari went on to start 46 races, with his best result a seventh place finish, which he achieved twice this season in Italy and Korea.

In a statement released on his official website jalguersuari.com, Alguersuari said: 'I will not judge the reasons of the decision, because Red Bull gave me everything since I was 15 years old, I’ve been formed with them, and I've become a complete F1 driver at age 21.'

He continued: 'I am not a victim because for seven years I have enjoyed the privilege of being in the best team in the world and with the best means, they brought me here, with them I won the British F3 International Series at 18 years and with them I have achieved the best results of a 21 years old F1 driver in 2011. At the end of March I will turn 22, with 46 GPs disputed. They have taken a decision that I respect.

The 21-year-old concluded: 'The surprise has lasted a couple of hours. The necessary to talk to my family, watch the street, I was in Madrid, and then realize that life is full of opportunities and challenges.

'Back in the AVE and reading the headlines I've come to realize that there are almost five million unemployed persons in Spain, and we can only give back to this country the confidence and optimism, thinking about fighting and improving every day. And that's what I'll do starting tomorrow, I promise to all the fans and the people who appreciate me.'