F1's 'most dangerous man' comes of age

When a door of opportunity opens a little, it's hard to know whether it is more foolish or more intelligent to hesitate a little before you push it wider and jump on through.

For Jaime Alguersuari, arguably one of the most improved drivers of this season - it is a dilemma he has faced twice in the space of a few months.

Door one

Imagine being offered your dream job - the very job that you had worked for since you were a little kid - but it's come a bit too early for you to feel totally comfortable taking it.

Do you grab the chance that has come along? Embrace it, try and cope as best you can but run the risk of not being able to do it to the potential you know you have?

Or do you turn it down? Instead, take the considered approach that you know you are good enough to get another chance further down the road, when you will be more prepared and better able to show what you can do?

There is no right or wrong answer - and that was the very dilemma that Alguersuari found himself in when Scuderia Toro Rosso came a-knocking last summer, in search of a replacement for Sebastien Bourdais.

Here he was, a 19-year-old, being offered the chance to race in F1 but without the wealth of junior single-seater experience of many of his peers. Furthermore, his experience of grand prix machinery was limited to a few straightline tests for Red Bull Racing and a single demonstration lap at Portimao.