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Former Red Bull Junior driver recalls ‘trauma’ on the way up the F1 ladder


Jaime Alguersuari at the 2011 Japanese Grand Prix.

Jaime Alguersuari at the 2011 Japanese Grand Prix.
image: Peter Fox (beautiful pictures)

When Jaime Alguersuari Retired from motorsport, he’s only 25 years old but has seen enough of the racing world to ignite him. His struggles largely stem from his support by Red Bull Junior Programsupported him throughout his career and ultimately helped him land a seat in Formula 1. Now, he is opening up about the injury he still has during his years on the show. .

Alguersuari made his F1 debut at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, when he was only 19 years old and became the youngest F1 driver to enter a race. He has been included in the sport as a mid-season replacement for Sébastian Buemi although his lack of experience has been called into question – and it is quickly off to a dismal 2.5 season start. Protein with Scuderia Toro Rosso. In his first season, Alguersuari failed to score a single point. The following year, he was surpassed by his teammates. At the end of 2011, the final year of F1, Alguersuari and Buemi were both replaced by Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo.

Three years later, Alguersuari returned to racing to compete with Virgin in the all-new Formula E series, but before the doubles final in London, he announced his retirement from motorsport, citing an untenable health condition. identification, lack of love for the sport, and the temporary suspension of his racing license. Instead, he turned to a DJ career.

Now, Buemi has opened a store in Spain El Confidencial about his injury time in motorsport, as reported by Race:

Tell the Spanish shop El ConfidencialAlguersuari admits he is “lucky to have been helped by Red Bull for many years”, but insists he is “full of ego and grit” during his time in F1.

He has struggled to make peace with being cut off by Red Bull. “It made me look like a child,” he said. And although he feels he has changed, he still feels the effects of being in the Red Bull pressure cooker.

“I tell you this – when I sleep, I still have very strange dreams at that time,” he said. “Especially about the helplessness and frustration of never being able to do it, seeing Mr. [Helmut] Marko was always angry, told us. As if we were children.

“This has created a trauma – and I believe Buemi and many others are going through it too.

“I was unable to delete this. I did therapy, when I retired, some psychologists helped me… now, even so, strange things come to my mind. And sometimes wake up, like, crying, having dreamed that I did a great deed only to see Mr. Marko’s face, angry. “

While it wasn’t explicitly mentioned at the time of his retirement, it was rumored that Alguersuari was struggling with that nasty split from Red Bull. He had mentioned it had impacted his mental health, but details about the matter were few and far between.

And Alguersuari’s experience didn’t happen in a vacuum. Red Bull also allegedly put pressure on driver Jean-Eric Vergne to maintain such a low weight during races in order to be more competitive with his teammate Daniel Ricciardo that he was taken to the hospital after events. Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat have both experienced the cruelty of promotion and then demotion between Red Bull Racing and junior team Scuderia Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri). Time and again, Red Bull’s Junior Program has displayed a tendency to show favor to one driver, often at the detriment of everyone else.

Alguersuari continued in El Confidencial that he has made some tentative peace with the decision from Red Bull but that there are still aspects of it that bother him. For example, he argues that Red Bull held something of a grudge against both him and Carlos Sainz Jr. due to the fact that both drivers had famous fathers. Of course, it’s worth noting that Red Bull’s current lead driver, Max Verstappen, also has a famous father.

However, the fact that Alguersuari was so deeply impacted on a mental and emotional level should imply that changes needed to be made within the Red Bull program. Recent reports that Yuki Tsunoda has sought a sport psychologist to temper his moods could be a promising sign — or it could be the exact opposite.

Whatever the case, Alguersuari is once again finally returning to the motorsport world, this time in the form of karting. At 32 years old, it’s a bit late to get his restart, but it’s good to see him making more peace with what was an immensely difficult time.



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