Alguersuari replaces Hartley as Red Bull reserve 01 Jul 2009
Red Bull have announced that Spanish teenager Jaime Alguersuari will serve as their reserve driver from next weekend’s German Grand Prix. Alguersuari, who became the youngest-ever British Formula Three champion last year, replaces fellow Red Bull junior driver Brendon Hartley, who has held the post since May’s Spanish race.
“With the ban on in-season testing, Red Bull views the appointment of a third driver as part of its young driver training programme, allowing a driver to follow all activities of the F1 teams over a race weekend,” explained the team in a statement. “Having benefited from this experience over the first half of the year, Hartley will now concentrate on his own racing programme in the European F3 series.”
Nineteen year-old Alguersuari tested for Red Bull in May 2008, carrying out a straight-line evaluation at Spain’s Idiada facility. Before his Formula Three success last year, he finished second in the Italian Formula Renault series and fifth in the European Renault series in 2007 and is currently competing in the World Series by Renault.
