“Christian was not really a friendly type”– Former F1 driver talks about the harsh decision Red Bull management took on him.
Jaime Alguersuari had a dream call from Helmut Marko in the 2009 Formula 1 season to replace Sebastien Bourdais in Red Bull’s sister team Toro Rosso (now Alpha Tauri) in the middle of the season. However, the sacking of Bourdais was a surprising call itself.
But the main concern was Alguersuari was directly called from Formula 3.5 in the middle of the season. However, Spaniard still managed to have a steady improvement after a pointless 2009 season, as in 2010, he grabbed five points and even defeated his teammate Sebastien Buemi.
Conspicuously it was not enough for Marko, but Alguersuari feels he was harshly treated by the former, even though he is grateful for him giving an opportunity in F1.
”Yes, but I want to say that I had a good relationship with him”, Alguersuari replied when asked if Helmut Marko is a difficult person. ”I will always be grateful to him, also the owner of Red Bull Dietrich Mateschitz.”
Rejected Lotus; let down by Helmut Marko.
His 2010 exhibitions attracted interests from Lotus, which he reportedly rejected, only to be betrayed by Toro Rosso, as in 2011 he was told, he wouldn’t be continuing with the team for the following season, leaving him stunned.
“They gave me a chance in Formula 1, where I could mature as a human being. I feel privileged with that opportunity, even if I have also suffered enough from it,” the Spaniard said to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
”I still don’t understand how that could have happened. I finished ahead of my teammate and had even turned down a contract from Lotus to be a teammate with Kimi Raikkonen (that seat eventually went to Romain Grosjean, who scored ten podiums).”
“There were a lot of positive sounds at Toro Rosso, but after an event in Madrid, I was called by Marko that there was no chance to stay. I was hurt by the way I was treated.”
No love with Christian Horner
Alguersuari currently gives a few competitive appearances in Formula E, though he didn’t get to drive a car for a long time; after his dismissal from Toro Rosso, he also plied his trade as a professional DJ, which went onto be a success and gave him attention.
Amidst the pandemic, Alguersuari returned to a kart. Reminiscing his F1 days, he called that he never had a good time with Christian Horner and Adrian Newey.
‘That bond was not there, not even with Adrian Newey. Also, not on track. Christian was not really a friendly type. That was also because, since 2010, we were building our own cars in Faenza, where I also lived.”
“We had a chassis completely made in Italy. We only went to Milton Keynes to train on the simulator,” Alguersuari concluded.
