Nightmares and gratitude
Jaime Alguersuari (born 23 March 1990) is a former Spanish racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2009 and 2011. In 46 Grand Prix starts he scored 31 championship points for Scuderia Toro Rosso.
Having won the 2008 British Formula 3 championship with Red Bull backing, Alguersuari made his F1 debut at the 2009 Hungarian GP, breaking the previous record for youngest driver to start an F1 race (19 years, 125 days).
The then-21-year-old lost his F1 seat after just over two seasons, along with Sébastien Buemi, and both were replaced with Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne. At the age of 25, Alguersuari officially retired from motorsport to concentrate on his DJ career.
Jaime Alguersuari conceded that the environment he was in, along with the high-pressure demands set by Red Bull’s Motorsport Advisor Helmut Marko, still affect him to this day.
“I’m going to tell you something: I still dream, when I sleep I have very strange dreams, very strange dreams from all that time, above all the helplessness and frustration of never meeting expectations, of seeing Mr. Marko always angry, telling me off. As if we were children.”
“This has created a trauma, strange things come into my head. And sometimes I wake up like crying, when I’ve done a great lap, and I find Mr. Marko’s face and he’s angry. All this, since you’re fifteen years old… Strange calls that hang up on you in a minute…”
But the Spaniard insists to add: “But don’t get me wrong, I am deeply thankful to have met him when I was 15. Helmut was my teacher. I have not enough words of gratitude to Red Bull and Helmut Marko because they have showed me a way of discipline, of dedication of hard work, that is helping me in my life, in my music, and I’m 100% sure I wouldn’t be who I am today without them.”
