Jaime Alguersuari was the next Spanish driver to reach Formula 1 after Fernando Alonso. After breaking all the records for precocity in the junior categories, in 2019 the Catalan became the next great hope of Spanish fans. Today he is only 35 years old, but it is already 13 years since he left Formula 1.
The internal fire at Red Bull is reminiscent of what happened with Jaime Alguersuari
The former driver was the first great promise thwarted by the ruthless machinery of Red Bull. They made him the youngest driver to debut in Formula 1 and they fired him when he was starting to show that he was good enough to be there. Something similar has been happening with some young drivers from the energy drinks team.
He wanted to talk about this on the podcast he shares with Albert Fábrega, TheAfterLap, but also on the Soymotor channel, where he made it clear how the managers of the Milton Keynes structure work and, above all, how they “from one day to the next” treat the young people who take a little longer to show the world of Formula 1 that they deserve that seat.
“Adrian Newey has left and when he saw all the fire that was going on, he said ‘this is falling apart’. Mateschitz was the most fundamental part of the Red Bull program and history, because that’s where Franz Tost, Helmut Marko, Dietrich’s lifelong friends came from. And since his death strange things have been happening within Red Bull, there’s a kind of division with Christian Horner, with Marko, with Max… I think we’re going to start seeing long faces, that the car is going to be more and more of what we’ve seen,” predicted the former Formula 1 driver.
Red Bull had the opportunity to promote Carlos Sainz
Regarding what happened with Lawson, Jaime Alguersuari recalls what Red Bull did with him at the time. “Why did Lawson join the team first and not Tsunoda, who has more experience? I can go back to the year I raced in 2011. My teammate Sebastián Buemi and I were thrown out on our asses on December 18, 2011.”
“Just one day after presenting the 2012 car. For commercial reasons. I was surprised, we were all surprised. The next day the press asked Mr. Marko and Mr. Tost why they had made that decision and had not promoted one of the two drivers. Logically, they should have promoted the team’s best points scorer, it was my turn. Well, their response was: ‘we are only going to promote the best drivers, those who can win the world championship. Jaime and Sebastian are not winners’, he recalled.
“Perfect. Daniel Ricciardo arrives and doesn’t beat us on points, but they decide to promote him to the first team. Then other drivers arrive, like Daniil Kvyat, and they promote them without applying that. What are we playing at? They had the opportunity to promote Carlos Sainz. Carlos is a driver who has won races and they didn’t want him because Max Verstappen doesn’t want Carlos Sainz. So what do you want? Drivers who are half a second behind Max? Well, you’re going to cut your throat, because in the Constructors’ Championship you’re going to be way behind and that’s what keeps you going. Now the fireworks will come,” added Jaime Alguersuari.
His advice to the Red Bull junior drivers: “As soon as you can see that there is light elsewhere, forget it, leave.”
In this sense, and in words to Soymotor, the former Toro Rosso driver between mid-2009 and 2012, gave advice to young drivers competing in the lower categories and who are supported by Red Bull, as in the case of Pepe Martí, now in Formula 2.
“Keep doing the work you’re doing. Go full throttle. Until you can get to or try to be in F1. The most important thing in F1 is to be in a good car. If you’re lucky enough to get it, and you have a good teammate, you can score points, you get yourself noticed… That’s the most important thing.”
Any advice? Be able to look beyond the boundaries of what is known. And he made that clear. “My advice is that, as soon as you can see that there is light on the other side, because they offer it to you and it may be interesting, forget it, leave. I didn’t know how to do it, out of trust and respect for the help I have received since I was 15 years old. I suppose I was an example for Carlos. I had the offer to go to Lotus with Kimi Räikkönen. And it didn’t happen,” he said.
Since his departure in 2012, Jaime Alguersuari had been trying to return to Formula 1 on several occasions. He competed in the DTM (touring car championship held in Germany) and even worked as a test driver for Pirelli. He took part in several competitions as a special guest in Formula E and Stock Car Brasil. His disenchantment came when, in addition to not being able to find a place in the world of motorsport, in 2015 he suffered a fainting spell after the Moscow ePrix. The FIA temporarily suspended him. Jaime was thus forced to announce his retirement from competition.