Teenage rookie Jaime Alguersuari has shrugged off claims that he is a danger to other drivers at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Teenager denies his lack of experience might imperil rivals
Teenage rookie Jaime Alguersuari has shrugged off claims that he is a danger to other drivers at this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.
The 19-year-old Spaniard is set to become the youngest driver in the sport's history on Sunday when he makes his race debut for Toro Rosso.
However, Alguersuari has hit the headlines in the last 24 hours for the wrong reasons after several current drivers questioned his lack of experience.
Among those to speak out was Jenson Button who, despite being barely 20 when he made his own debut back in 2000, felt the youngster could damage his career.
Unlike Button's baptism almost a decade ago, Alguersuari has had next to no running in an F1 car prior to this weekend because of testing restrictions imposed ahead of the current season.
Three-times world champion Niki Lauda even remarked there was "a real element of danger" to him taking to the Hungaroring track this weekend.
But after completing 82 trouble-free laps in practice, and expectedly finishing bottom of the timesheets, last year's British F3 champion remarked: "I don't care what other people say.
"I know what my expectation is, what my target is, and I know that today I didn't make any mistakes.
"I hope tomorrow I don't, and in the race. My target here is to drive the car and not make mistakes.
"Then we will talk about times and about speed. But I don't feel I am a danger, not really.
"I'm here because Red Bull just sent me a message telling me that I have to drive this car."
Alguersuari's only blemish was a stall at the top of the pit lane as he hit the rev-limiter button to ensure he did not speed, which resulted in team mechanics pushing him back to the garage.
Apart from that, he had cause to be pleased with his day's work, although he was still nearly 0.8 seconds off 19th-placed team-mate Sebastien Buemi at the end of the two sessions.
