If I asked you who the most valuable Spanish driver in F1 was today, 100 percent of you would say Fernando Alonso. If I asked you who the best value was, most of you would still say Alonso but I would argue otherwise. Don’t get me wrong – I think he’s the best driver on the grid this season, and he has been for some time. Anyone who can make a dog like the F2012 look as good as he does is not just massively talented, but a true gift to the sport.

Despite his prodigious skill though, he’s a bit of a dog himself. Remember when he boxed Lewis Hamilton out of the McLaren pits a few years back? Nobody needs that kind of pettiness on their team, and I expect that’s why Ferrari decided to keep Felipe on for another season. Fernando likes Massa because he is an experienced but not threatening driver. Another reason I think Fernando is overpriced is because, well, he is. According to Forbes, he makes $32 million per season. To put that in perspective he gets paid about $1.6 million per race, or $5,000 per kilometer. Fernando makes about the same as the entire GDP of the nation of Tuvalu. He could move to Tuvalu and literally double the GDP! Let’s not talk about Kiribati, okay?

So what, exactly, am I getting on about? No, I’m not saying that Pedro de la Rosa is the best deal in F1 at the moment. Jaime Alguersuari, on the other hand, is the best deal not in F1 at the moment.

A wealth of some experience

With all the rising stars that I’m so often writing about and the king-sized mattresses full of money being thrown about the paddock for pay-drivers, it’s easy to get lost looking for the spiritual successor to a young Hamilton, Vettel or Schumacher. It’s sometimes harder to look at the more obvious choices and consider them as a real asset. One can just say ‘well he was underwhelming, won’t see him again’ and move on, but I don’t think it’s always wise to do so.

It seems nowadays that young drivers enter F1 with more money than talent and the teams are so blinded by it that their publicity machines almost convince themselves that Pastor Maldonado is the next World Champion. Might I submit for a moment, that you team bosses of the world take off your green-tinted glasses and think further ahead than next season?

Jaime Alguersuari has scored points in one out of every five races he’s entered, and in a sub-standard car. He’s started in two and a half seasons of Formula 1. Last year he likely would have scored points in 6 of 7 races if Bruno Senna hadn’t driven like he had stolen his parents’ Clio at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix. Perhaps most importantly, Alguersuari hasn’t spent the last three years pin-balling off his competitors to win GP2 or Formula Renault 3.5 or any of the other junior formulas. Long story made short, he’s got skillz-with-a-zee (or zed, if you’re all Commonwealth-y) and experience enough to do a good job.

Emphasis on the ‘some experience’

Despite being a fairly well rounded driver with some Grands Prix to his name, he is not so old that he’s out of it. He could still be the next big thing. The guy is 22 years old, not exactly looking to retire anytime soon. I haven’t done the math (or maths, if you’re all Commonwealth-y) but I’d be willing to bet he has the highest Grands Prix started to age ratio today, and that is a good thing.

Now, all the big teams are settled up for 2013, but hypothetically if a team like Ferrari wanted to take him on as a number-two driver, it could work out nicely. Fernandito has another probably eight years or so left in him so Jaime would probably never make it to primary driver status, but he could be a solid, points-scoring, non-threatening number-two driver for the Scuderia then maybe switch over to another big-name team. A certain, well-respected F1 journalist has suggested that it will more likely be Mark Webber driving the second crimson stallion in 2014 and he’s probably right, but Alguersuari may be a logical second choice for a second driver.

…and the ace up his sleeve

Tires (or tyres, yeah… you get it) have been the story this year. They will be again next year too, I would imagine, and for years to come. They’ve not only been the deciding factor in battles here and there, but they’ve been the deciding factor in nearly every race this season. Do you think Nico Rosberg would have won a race if McLaren or Red Bull weren’t struggling with the tires? Credit where credit is due, Nico’s a good driver but he’s in a pretty underwhelming car. So it would make sense that some foresight and advance knowledge of the tire situation next year would be pretty advantageous.

Jaime Alguersuari to the rescue! He’s been the Pirelli test driver for this year and has been working with the team on developing next year’s tires. Even if his experience on next year’s actual compounds has been limited, his working with the Pirelli team will still prove invaluable to whichever team deigns to hire him.

So let’s recap: he’s experienced but not too experienced, he possesses valuable knowledge of the tires, he’s relatively cheap to employ, he hasn’t stabbed anyone in the neck with a champagne flute and he can provide some dance-jams at all of your victory parties (DJ Squire in the heezy!). Why wouldn’t teams be jumping at the opportunity to give Jaime a race seat? My gut feeling is that some team or other will realize this soon.

The rumor mill says that Nico Hülkenburg will move over to Sauber next year. I don’t really see the logic in this but many seem to think it’s already a done deal, so there. This will leave a spot open at Force India, likely leaving space for Sutil or Alguersuari. Did I mention the champagne flute incident? Other possibilities for the Spaniard could include Sauber if they decide Hulk’s not the way to go or Caterham. If Marussia or HRT offers the spot, I would hope Jaime bides his time in testing and in sports cars or something. The back-markers are still going nowhere fast, and even Caterham is a stretch with them being behind Marussia at the moment.

So there you have it: the best bet not in Formula 1 today. Besides… have you seen those eyes? Lady-killer.