Mark Webber to be ousted by Red Bull? Rumor

With Toro Rosso announcing their line up for 2012 with Daniel Ricciardo and Jean Vergne taking both seats leaving Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari without drives for the 2012 season.

This move has started a rumor has been going around the paddock about Mark Webber's future at Red Bull has put under doubt. The Red Bull hierarchy are believed to been impressed by Jaime Alguersuari this season and ranked him in the top 4 drivers of this season behind Vettel,Button and fellow Spaniard Alonso, This has led to people talking that Mark may be removed from he's seat earlier then he's contract ends as Alguersuari is still under contract to Red Bull until 2013.

FIA steward Joaquin Verdegay said: "I think he will stay with Red Bull, because he has been one of the five best drivers of the year.
Marko knows that too and I'm sure they're not going to drop him. Maybe he's going to Red Bull as third driver? Or maybe to replace Webber?

It appears all may not be lost yet for Alguersuari but what do i expect? a HRT drive for him or Red Bull 3rd driver.

Source: Motorsport.com

Removing him from Torro Rosso was a disgusting decision in my opinion. The Red Bull young driver programme is totally flawed and clearly ineffective in nurturing and producing F1 calibre drivers on a year by year basis. The programme led by Helmut Marko is purely living off the success of finding Sebastian Vettel but lets look at the facts. Since 2005 Red Bull's young driver programme has had twenty-eight drivers pass through it's system and yet only one of these drivers have made the grade. Surely the expense of continuing this programme is in question as there are currently not enough seats within F1 to provide employment for the increased backlog of drivers that the system is creating. This is forcing Red Bull to make hasty, incorrect calls upon driver placements and it is potentially ruining the careers of drivers with the potential to succeed. Once you have failed, you are shown the door and discarded, as was the case of Buemi, Speed, Klien and many more. Alguersuari was impressive in periods of last season compared to his teammate and should still be in the Torro Rosso, however the pressure of finding seats for Ricciardo & Vergne has dealt the team a problem which they've clearly struggled to deal with. The driver programme should be scrapped in my opinion as the cost surely outweighs the end result.

Mark Webber will not be removed from his seat for 2012. Mark Webber is a well respected driver within F1 and has played a huge part in helping Red Bull transform into the world beaters they are today. He has been such a good servant to the team and F1 as a whole, I find it difficult to see that the team will treat him in such a way. He will be replaced for 2013 when his contract is up, however going down the route of replacing him with a driver they have nurtured who won't be a threat to Vettel, could be potentially a disastrous decision. Who knows how long they will be at the top? They should focus on replacing Mark with an experienced, proven and reliable driver who will represent the team well both on-and-off the track and ultimately be a driver who can challenge Vettel for multiple seasons in helping them achieve many more driver and constructors titles.