Leading up to the German Grand Prix a story in the L’Equipe newspaper suggested Scuderia Toro Rosso was about to sack Sebastien Bourdais. The Frenchman brushed off the report as a mindless rumour but has a very different attitude now that he has been given formal marching orders by the team. Red Bull junior driver, Jaime Alguersuari, will be his replacement at the Hungaroring.

The news came as a shock to Bourdais (who has since threatened legal action) but was not as big a surprise to much of the F1 community. Toro Rosso’s oldest driver has not developed into a solid performer and his long term future has always been shaky.

Bourdais’ failure to master Formula One is a little surprising given his motorsport pedigree.

He won the Formula 3000 Championship and the Spa 24 Hour race in 2002. He has finished second at Le Mans in his last two appearances and holds the current lap record at Sebring.

Then of course there are Bourdais’ incredible achievements in the USA. Raw statistics tell the story of just how dominant he was in the ChampCar World Series. He won 43% of all the races that he entered which is the sort of efficiency that only Juan Manuel Fangio could equal in Formula One. He also won the International Race of Champions stock car race back in 2005 against a field of NASCAR regulars.

There is nothing to suggest that Bourdais is anything but a world class driver, but his torrid time in F1 has cast a shadow over the value of his past achievements, in particular his ChampCar titles. Had he done well in Grand Prix racing Bourdais’ record in the US would be celebrated, but instead his failure at Toro Rosso has highlighted what a mess Champcar was in during the time he spent there.

Perhaps Bourdais would have done better in Formula One under different circumstances, but the same could be said for many drivers. You’ve got to make the most of what you’ve got and he simply didn’t do that.

Bourdais’ F1 career was tarnished by other Sebastiens.

He was beaten by Sebastian Vettel at Toro Rosso in 2008, but was actually a lot closer than many people give him credit for. A late shower at Spa cost Bourdais a podium finish and he could actually have won the Italian Grand Prix if his car hadn’t failed on the grid. He was quicker than Vettel all afternoon at Monza and had qualified with more fuel on board.

However, there were also some fairly average performances last year as well. There were 10 races in 2008 that both Vettel and Bourdais finished and the German was ahead in every one of them. Vettel was regularly up to a second quicker in qualifying than Bourdais over the final races of the season, and finished a full lap ahead in Brazil despite making an extra pitstop.

Bourdais was lucky to keep his drive for 2009 and only held on to the position thanks to the team’s desire for some continuity. After a year of experience it was expected that Bourdais would take a significant step up in performance this season.

That hasn’t been the case, and the 30 year old has been outperformed by rookie Sebastien Buemi.

Bourdais is able to outrace his young teammate but is usually behind in qualifying, and that makes his weekend difficult. Buemi has one extra point than Bourdais and has generally been quicker. The two drivers might be close but that really isn’t good enough for Bourdais who should be comfortably ahead.

Sebastien Buemi’s unexpected success as a rookie might be why Toro Rosso is now taking a punt with another newcomer.

Jaime Alguersuari will be the youngest driver in F1 history when he lines up on the grid in Hungary but his chances of breaking any other records are pretty slim.

Alguersuari made a name for himself in Spain by winning a collection of local karting titles and he moved into open wheelers at the age of 15. He took a few Formula Renault wins here and there and came second in the 2007 Italian Championship.

He won the last years British Formula Three series but was not overly convincing on his way to victory. He only won two of the first nineteen races and there were four drivers in contention for the title at the final round. He certainly wasn’t dominant.

This year Alguersuari moved into the Renault World Series but has struggled to find pace. He is running eighth in the championship and is notably behind Oliver Tarvey, a teammate that pushed him hard in F3.

Alguersuari’s record does not scream F1 quality.

He has only driven a Grand Prix car on a few occasions before, and one of those was an F1 demo in Portugal when he was more focused on doing burnouts for the crowd. The other tests have been straight line aero runs for both Red Bull teams, so other than sitting in the cockpit and flooring the throttle, Jaime has little Formula One experience.

He will have to be one hell of a talented driver to do well in F1 this year but his record suggests that he is not. Red Bull is hoping to unearth the next Sebastien Vettel but Alguersuari’s Grand Prix preparation appears to be undercooked.

The timing of Red Bulls decision is rather odd. A huge set of updates are being introduced to the STR4 in Hungary and are expected to increase the car’s performance by around seven tenths per lap. That is a huge technical boost but will be totally wasted on a rookie making his debut. He certainly isn’t going to get the most out of his machinery. The team could have really benefited from Bourdais’ experience in the car to evaluate and develop those improvements, even if just for one weekend.

It also seems odd that Alguersuari replaced Brendon Hartley as Toro Rosso’s third driver just three weeks ago. Hartley says that he left the position on his own accord to focus on his Formula Three career but the Red Bull press release suggests otherwise. It looks like the company has intentionally manoeuvred Alguersuari into that position.

It is also a little strange that Toro Rosso should make such a driver change just before the month long summer break. Jaime would have had four full weeks to get used to working with the team between Hungary and Valencia but is instead only going to have a few precious days to prepare for his debut.

Having said all that, the timing of Toro Rosso’s move might have been very well planned.

Jaime Alguersuari has a large personal sponsorship deal with Repsol worth something in the region of one million dollars per race. That is a very attractive offer to Toro Rosso who need the cash. Many of the resources they might once have had are now being directed towards Red Bull’s championship surge.

Placing Alguersuari in the car right now might help Toro Rosso’s chances of landing a bigger contract with Repsol in 2010.

Next year Campos Grand Prix enters Formula One. They are a Spanish team looking to have Spanish drivers and sponsors, and whilst Jaime Alguersuari might not have been a target for them, his deal with Repsol certainly would be.

Repsol have significant sponsorship in other motorsports, especially MotoGP, but have little coverage in Formula One. If they were going to enter the sport you would expect them to do so with a team like Campos to target the Spanish market.

By signing Alguersuari now before 2010 Toro Rosso might be preventing those dollars from going to Campos, especially over the F1 summer break when a lot of deals are done.

By comparison, Sebastien Bourdais did not bring a single dollar of his own money to the team.

Interestingly, Alguersuari will continue to race in the World Series by Renault this year. That surely can’t help him focus on the adjustment to F1 and is another obstacle he probably doesn’t need. F1 is going to be incredibly tough for him and Toro Rosso’s management are already saying they expect ‘nothing’ from him.

Nothing might be all they get if Jaime is not the driver they want him to be. Red Bull has faith in him though, so the pressure is now on the 19 year old to make the most of this golden opportunity.

Vettel took advantage of his time at Toro Rosso and is now in contention for the World Championship. Bourdais did not and is now sitting on the sidelines.

The test for Alguersuari will be finding out which of the Sebastiens he can emulate.