Sebastien Bourdais in action at the German Grand Prix, likely to be his last race for the Torro Rosso team.
Sebastien Bourdais in action at the German Grand Prix, likely to be his last race for the Torro Rosso team.

Other Sport

Bourdais faces Torro Rosso exit

The F1 team are due to confirm the Frenchman's exit tomorrow with Jaime Alguersuari stepping into the seat.

Toro Rosso are due to confirm Sebastien Bourdais has left the team, with Jaime Alguersuari stepping into the seat to become the youngest driver in Formula One history. Frenchman Bourdais was given his F1 chance after winning four successive ChampCar titles in the United States from 2004 to 2007. But the 30-year-old struggled throughout his time in the sport, winning just six points from the 27 grands prix in which he competed. Bourdais was overshadowed last year by Sebastian Vettel, who gave the often uncompetitive team a dream win in last season's Italian Grand Prix.

Given another chance this season, Bourdais again found himself second best to Swiss rookie Sebastien Buemi, who out-qualified his more experienced teammate seven to two. Bourdais' F1 career ended in suitably downbeat fashion in yesterday's German Grand Prix when he retired with a hydraulic failure at the Nurburgring. Although team principal Franz Tost refused to confirm Bourdais' departure after the race, reserve and test driver Alguersuari is expected to step up to the plate for the rest of the season. The rising Spanish star is the reigning British F3 champion and another product of the Red Bull Young Driver Development programme.

Alguersuari will take his place in the record books at the Hungarian Grand Prix in a fortnight by becoming the sport's youngest ever driver at the age of 19 years and 126 days. That would beat New Zealander Mike Thackwell's record by 57 days set in the 1980 Canadian Grand Prix. * PA Sport

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

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