68 replies to this topic

[pacificquay]

Jaime Alguersari has announced he's retiring from racing, aged 25.

 

It follows him missing the end of the Formula E season for medical reasons.

 

This sounds like things may be more serious than first thought....

[kosmos]

He said he retires because he lost the love for "cars", his health is OK.

[thegamer23]

Sad to hear. What a talent he was.

He fainted after Moscow e-prix and missed the season finale, something worrying must have been discovered, don't believe at all the "lost love for cars" thing as he was pretty entusiastic last year, talking about future prospects ecc.

Edited by thegamer23, 01 October 2015 - 10:58.

[noikeee]

Held the record for youngest driver ever to participate in F1 at the age of 19. Retires from racing altogether at the age of 25.

 

This should come as a word of warning for everyone that wants to rush every driver as soon as they can. Doesn't mean it doesn't work for some - and it has been an extremely successful career path for some, most notably Vettel - but it also has its risks.

 

I agree the reasoning for his retirement sounds unconvincing, and I hope he isn't going through something serious.

[SophieB]

Links are good. 

 

"I need a change," Alguersuari said during a press conference in Madrid.
"I've lost my love for this girlfriend. I'm 25 and I've decided to start a new chapter."
Alguersuari, who made his Formula 1 debut at the age of 19, said he did not know if he would ever return to racing.

"Nowadays I don't belong in racing, but I can't say it's the end either."

 

 

http://www.motorspor...nt-from-racing/

[Marklar]

Ive always felt that this driver pairing back than at Toro Rosso (Buemi, ALG) could have potentually stay for many years in F1, but somehow it shouldnt be. Jaime was for me age related, he wasnt clearly ready yet, but thats how RB works.

Edited by Marklar, 01 October 2015 - 11:25.

[ThisIsMischaW]

I think we might see more of this as the average age of new drivers in top level motorsport decreases.

[maximilian]

If the dude says he doesn't like racing anymore, then no reason not to take it at face value. 

[Jon83]

Ive always felt that this driver pairing back than at Toro Rosso (Buemi, ALG) could have potentually stay for many years in F1, but somehow it shouldnt be. Jaime was for me age related, he wasnt clearly ready yet, but thats how RB works.

 

I thought he made a lot of progress over his time, especially in 2011 I think it was, and was extremely unlucky to be shown the door. It seemed to demonstrate the tougher side of the RBR young driver program.

[Talisman]

I thought he made a lot of progress over his time, especially in 2011 I think it was, and was extremely unlucky to be shown the door. It seemed to demonstrate the tougher side of the RBR young driver program.

 

Especially a driver program that released him too late to negotiate a good contract for the next season and labelled him as too lacking in intelligence to become a championship contender....

[maximilian]

Especially a driver program that released him too late to negotiate a good contract for the next season and labelled him as too lacking in intelligence to become a championship contender....

 

If he was any good, he would have gotten a contract elsewhere.

[goldenboy]

They did kind of screw him though.

[maximilian]

They did kind of screw him though.

 

Absolutely.  As they did with a bunch of other drivers.

 

Of course we should keep in mind that they "made" him (and those others, with the exception of Bourdais) in the first place, and that there's a chance they would have never made it that far without Red Bull to begin with... but who knows.

Edited by maximilian, 01 October 2015 - 11:59.

[WilliamsF1Fan]

He is someone I hoped would get another chance in F1 and at times I had hoped he got some kind of position at Williams.  

[goldenboy]

Absolutely. As they did with a bunch of other drivers.

Of course we should keep in mind that they "made" him (and those others, with the exception of Bourdais) in the first place, and that there's a chance they would have never made it that far without Red Bull to begin with... but who knows.

True.

[Sash1]

From a young age you work towards one goal (F1) and you give up most in life for it. You reach that level, but than you are thrown out again. If after that there is no chance to get back into it (F1), what next do you have to do to motivate yourself. Everything else is surrogate and just for money. 25 is a perfect age to set new goals and find other things to do in life. Better than working towards F1 until you are 25, race 2 years, get thrown out, spend another few years elsewhere and try to find a new goal in life when you are 35. IMHO.

[Jimisgod]

I was surprised he couldn't build a career in WEC or Indycar. He seemed to have better pedigree than most of the LMP1 drivers fresh out of various Carrera cup classes.

[Ross Stonefeld]

I dunno, a lot of the Red Bull Juniors have gone on to have careers. Careers they might not have had otherwise. Would Hartley had got out of NZ, or survived as many years as he did in Europe, without Red Bull? Now he's a factor racer for Porsche in LMP1. Where is Buemi without Red Bull?

[Peat]

Yup, you live and die by the Red Bull sword. 

Shame, bloody good driver. There may be more to it, but I can certainly attest to having different goals and desires from 19yr old Peat to 25yr old Peat. (and now 30something Peat..... *sigh*). 

One would imagine he's a tad disillusioned with it all. Spend your teens racing racing racing, having smoke blown up your behind 24/7, achieve your no.1 goal by aged 19 only to then get a constant stream of criticism from the people who were once blowing smoke, and have the rug pulled out from under you. What a headf***! 

[shonguiz]

I hope he's ok, but frankly i couldn't care less if he retires.

[hittheapex]

Different career records but it reminds me of Mike Thackwell retiring early and walking away from racing.

 

I hope the health rumours are just that and that Jaime is OK. He can be proud of what he achieved in motorsport and I wish him well in whatever he does next. From what I saw of him when he was in F1 he seems a nice chap.

[Marklar]

From a young age you work towards one goal (F1) and you give up most in life for it. You reach that level, but than you are thrown out again. If after that there is no chance to get back into it (F1), what next do you have to do to motivate yourself. Everything else is surrogate and just for money. 25 is a perfect age to set new goals and find other things to do in life. Better than working towards F1 until you are 25, race 2 years, get thrown out, spend another few years elsewhere and try to find a new goal in life when you are 35. IMHO.

Didnt he had (or stil have) a DJ career besides the racing stuff?

[Marklar]

Can someone explain me from where the health rumours are coming from?

[Ross Stonefeld]

He pulled out of the last FE race very late for medical checks. Then announced a week or two later that he didn't know what was wrong, but would announce his racing plans in the autumn.

And at the time I said "if you don't know what's wrong and if you can keep racing, how can you announce your plans". And now suddenly he's fallen out of love with racing.

Whichever reason is the correct one, something about the sequence of events seems inconsistent.

[d246]

Didnt he had (or stil have) a DJ career besides the racing stuff?

He's actually quite a decent DJ. He's also a better driver than 50% of the current grid.

[SenorSjon]

He seems to have fainted at the FE race in Moskow (not in the race luckily).

[SophieB]

Didnt he had (or stil have) a DJ career besides the racing stuff?

 

Yes. I remember back in 2011 him rather coldly correcting one of the British TV F1 pundits about how called himself Squire, rather than DJ Squire when doing so.

 

He seemed to take himself insanely seriously but then again I guess he was very young. Still is, really - it's a pity.

[Marklar]

He pulled out of the last FE race very late for medical checks. Then announced a week or two later that he didn't know what was wrong, but would announce his racing plans in the autumn.

And at the time I said "if you don't know what's wrong and if you can keep racing, how can you announce your plans". And now suddenly he's fallen out of love with racing.

Whichever reason is the correct one, something about the sequence of events seems inconsistent.

Ah yeah. Ive forgot that. Thanks!

[GSiebert]

You could at least have spelled his name right.

[sopa]

I doubt he doesn't like racing as such any more. Well, it is a possible consequence, but I think something is missing here - a deeper key reason.

 

Greater chance is he is tired of off-track politics and constant fight for your career. Already after 2011 he was heavily disillusioned after Toro Rosso had "promised" him a seat, which he never got. Probably recently something more happened behind the doors and he decided "enough is enough".

 

A pity - as others have said, he is/was a reasonably talented driver.

[maximilian]

You could at least have spelled his name right.

 

That was one of my first thoughts, too... "at least we won't have to see his name misspelled all the time anymore"

[IamFasterthanU]

Showed decent potential in 2011 before being unceremoniously dumped by Red Bull. It always puzzled me, why he couldn't find a seat in F1 in 2012 given his dad runs WSR 3.5. From the outside it looked like the snub broke him mentally. 

[FredF1]

If he was any good, he would have gotten a contract elsewhere.

 

 

Oh the irony.

[GoldenColt]

(F1) career ending moment...

 

 

Marko 

Edited by GoldenColt, 01 October 2015 - 14:03.

[drionita]

Oh the irony.

Something like Merc telling RB "You're so good, you'll find an engine elsewhere"?

[Peat]

Nawh, that Marko clip brings back all those long lost feelings of rage i had for RBR. 

Keep up the good work. 

[discover23]

wondering why is this such a big story? This was all over my twitter feed this morning....

[dierome1987]

According some rumours in Spain, he wasn't really that interested in racing anyway. It seems his father was the one pushing him to become a race car driver.

[Ross Stonefeld]

He did amazingly well if he wasn't into it.

[Chubby_Deuce]

any pics of the girlfriend?

[Myrvold]

any pics of the girlfriend?

 

The "girlfriend" was racing.

[Talisman]

If he was any good, he would have gotten a contract elsewhere.

I'm not shedding tears, he may have been quick but he wasn't the sharpest tool in the box. He was lucky not to be punished once for openly telling the bbc after quali in Monaco once that he had rammed a sauber off the road out of his way for the sake of formula 1.

Very lucky to make it to f1, didn't have the commitment to make his career work elsewhere. Hope he finds what he likes doing and wish him success there.

[Imperial]

I'm a bit disappointed that people are trying to 'Michael Stipe' the guy because he was ill in some way a few months ago and no longer wants to race.

Nobody has the balls to specify the illness they have jumped to conclusions on. Not necessarily in this thread, but the rumours are doing the rounds.

It is more than possible the guy wanted only to be in F1, the dream went sour, he tried an alternative series and realised it really was F1 or nothing so stopped.

I can see exactly where some are going with this, so it's sad the guy is clearly now going to have to live with rumours until he has lived long enough to prove people wrong.

[LORDBYRON]

Sad to hear. What a talent he was. 

 

​Was he still contracted to red bull might ave been a way out

[Marklar]

Jaime Alguersuari ‏@AlguersuariJA
It's time to move on and mark a new beginning following my dreams and listening to my heart. Thank you again.

[Ross Stonefeld]

I'm a bit disappointed that people are trying to 'Michael Stipe' the guy because he was ill in some way a few months ago and no longer wants to race.

Nobody has the balls to specify the illness they have jumped to conclusions on. Not necessarily in this thread, but the rumours are doing the rounds.

It is more than possible the guy wanted only to be in F1, the dream went sour, he tried an alternative series and realised it really was F1 or nothing so stopped.

I can see exactly where some are going with this, so it's sad the guy is clearly now going to have to live with rumours until he has lived long enough to prove people wrong.

 

Uhm, it sounds like you're trying to paint him with a certain illness actually. One that is historically used as gossip/insult.

 

I had a heard an illness rumour, one that wasn't really controversial. But it would be private. Both for his sake and that I learned it somewhat in 'priviledged' circumstances(even though that person shouldn't have been talking). For instance I know of a professional racing driver that has diabetes but is not public about it. I wouldn't name them, nor make hints about that driver when they are mentioned.

 

So that 'nobody has the balls' is only a good thing. It's certainly better than your wtf-level accusations, which I hope I am completely misreading.

 

What we've been discussing so far in the thread, or at least I have, was his public medical circumstances and the mystery/vagueness around them.

[ensign14]

I thought he made a lot of progress over his time, especially in 2011 I think it was, and was extremely unlucky to be shown the door. It seemed to demonstrate the tougher side of the RBR young driver program.

 

True - and perhaps a move like that would have given him the required toughness to scramble back to F1. 

[Myrvold]

I'm a bit disappointed that people are trying to 'Michael Stipe' the guy because he was ill in some way a few months ago and no longer wants to race.

Heh, removing the illness from the equation... I don't like it if this is the reason why he stopped.

[superden]

A real shame, another driver stiffed by RBR.

[Spillage]

I remember Martin Brundle saying his career could be over by his early twenties - he was right. To be honest, though, the writing was on the wall. He had a pretty poor season in Formula E after two years not racing and one messing around in GT cars... his heart just seemed to be elsewhere. I hope the rumours about ill health are nothing, and I wish him all the best in his future career, which I guess is in his music

 

EDIT: Just found this article from a couple of months ago in which he rules out participating in Formula E due to this illness, whatever it is. I'm hoping his retirement isn't connected to it, and is rather the result of some unrelated soul-searching. But whatever, I have nothing but support for him and his future endeavors!

Edited by Spillage, 01 October 2015 - 19:38.