A final farewell?

RichardsF1    Formula 1     Jaime Alguersuari

Some drivers arrive with a bang, and plenty leave with a whimper, but perhaps that cannot be said of Jaime Alguersuari, despite the Spaniard’s announcement that he won’t be present in the F1 paddock this year.

After just two-and-a-half seasons in F1, the 21-year-old lost his seat at Toro Rosso and joined a long list of colleagues on the F1 unemployment queue at the end of the season.

His one shot at remaining on the grid went belly up with HRT’s decision to re-sign Narain Karthikeyan for the upcoming season, and his only remaining prospects were as a reserve driver with one of the teams.

“You will not see me there this year but I am content with the super experience formula one has given me for my life,” he wrote on his Twitter feed. “Thank you all very much for your support.”

He had actually been offered the role of reserve driver with Red Bull Racing but he told them to shove their offer where it fit best before it went to his former team-mate Sébastien Buemi.

There had also been speculation of a tie-up with a reserve role at Mercedes GP, particularly given the rumours that Toro Rosso sponsor Cepsa (Spain’s leading petroleum company) was unhappy with his sacking. Cepsa is owned by IPIC, the parent company of Mercedes GP sponsor and shareholder Aabar.

It remains to be seen what Jaime will wind up doing in the year ahead, or even if he will consider charting the steps to make a return to Formula 1.

Perhaps he’s been too burned by the experience and will turn his back on motorsport to pursue his love of music? Or maybe his management has already concocted a pukka path to get back into motorsport’s top championship?

Either way, the next few months will be very interesting, in terms of what announcements will be forthcoming from his camp…

Richard Bailey RichardsF1.com Editor [Images via The Cahier Archive]