Alguersuari: Vital to take early chance

The performance and reliability of the STR6 has been one of the surprises during the opening three days of the final pre-season test at Barcelona, and Alguersuari said that capitalising on that was crucial before the squad became engaged in a development war.

"I hope we are in front of our main rivals, which are Force India and Sauber," he said. "This is the main goal for the team. I think we are capable and we can do it, nevertheless I know they are bigger teams than us with more experience and more people.

"I know that the development from them will be bigger than us, but I am sure we can do a good job and in these first races we need to attack and stay in front."

While Alguersuari agreed that the new car appears to be more competitive out of the box than its predecessor, he said that consistency over the season would be key to the team's fortunes.

"I don't think it is going to be easy because we have a good car," he said. "I still think it is going to be difficult because if we are faster we will need to score points in every race to keep our rivals behind. But it will be a different year. I think it will be difficult for everybody."