Q&A with Jaime Alguersuari after Sepang

On Sunday, Scuderia Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari became the second youngest points scorer in the history of F1 - a bit older than Vettel and a bit younger than Button. This is what he had to say after the Malaysian GP

How does it feel to have finally scored your first points?

Jaime Alguersuari: "I think it was amazing to get points here. We never expected to do that on a track like this, because it was my first time here - and qualifying conditions were a bit tough for us. But the race worked out really well.

"We knew that our race pace was quite good and it is our strong point from what we have in Toro Rosso. We just need to improve the qualifying in both the wet and the dry – and that is part of the learning process."

You said after the Australian Grand Prix that racing against Michael Schumacher was a good learning experience for you. Did the lesson you take from there help you in Malaysia?

JA: "Definitely. Michael showed me the way to drive a Formula 1 car on the limit, with other drivers. This was very important. To finish the Australian Grand Prix and to fight against him showed me the way – like how to be aggressive with other people. The race in Malaysia worked out like that with [Vitaly] Petrov and Nico [Hulkenberg]. They were amazing fights, both were clean, and that is the way to do it in Formula One."

How was the fight with Nico in particular?

JA: "I took him in the slipstream into Turn 3, and then I outbraked him. He was then closing up, and then on the exit I came out a bit better than him because I had the optimum line. I put the power on a bit earlier than him but the next corner was Turn 5, and it was on his side – a left hand corner. He was on the left, I was on the right – on the outside – and I had more to lose than win, but at points like that you need to take risks for the points. So I did it and it worked well. It was clean, he understeer a little bit so he lifted off – which meant I could overtake him. It went well for me this time, but that may not happen next time!"

So no fear of an accident then?

JA: "No. At that moment I was just thinking about the points. It was the same feeling I had with Michael, because when we both made contact. This is at the art of racing and it is very nice – but at the end you do it because you need the points. Today it worked out for me."

Is the team now in a position to start scoring regular points?

JA: "Definitely. There is still a lot to come from my side. To know how the tyres degrade – how the option and prime behave. You come to a new track, you do the qualifying and everything is different, very difficult. But I am really expecting a lot when I come to the European track and I go to the places I know because I will be able to show my performance at 100 per cent. My knowledge of the car will be much higher, so I am expecting a lot for the second half of the season."