F1 Driver Suffered 'Trauma' And 'Strange Dreams' After Brutal One-Minute Sacking

A former F1 driver says he suffered 'trauma' and 'strange dreams' after being sacked via a one-minute phone call.

Jaime Alguersuari drove for Toro Rosso - now known as Racing Bulls - between 2009 and 2011.

After replacing Sebastien Bourdais at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, he became the youngest driver in F1 history at the age of 19 years and 125 days.

Although he didn't pick up a point in the remaining eight races of the season, the Spaniard was retained for 2010 alongside Sebastian Buemi.

Toro Rosso were uncompetitive that year, however, with Alguersuari scoring five points compared to Buemi's eight.

In 2011, he enjoyed more success and picked up a total of 26 points, including career-best seventh-placed finishes at the Italian and Korean Grands Prix.

But the Spaniard's time in F1 came to an end at the conclusion of the season, as both he and Buemi were dropped by Toro Rosso and replaced with the new-look pairing of Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne.

Alguersuari worked with BBC Radio 5 Live during the 2012 season, and then spent two years in Formula E before abruptly retiring from motorsport in 2015 at the age of 25.

The Spaniard is now a full-time DJ and producer, having found an entirely new life outside of Formula 1.

He is no longer the youngest driver in the sport's history, with that accolade being taken by Max Verstappen when he made his Toro Rosso debut at 17 in 2015.

His last memory of being an F1 driver is being told he was being replaced in a one-minute phone call, with Alguersuari telling the Daily Star in 2023 that he 'still [doesn't] understand why' the decision was made.

He told Spanish outlet El Confidencial in 2022 that he was suffering 'trauma' from his time in Formula 1 and was having 'strange dreams'.

"The helplessness and frustration of never meeting expectations [in his dreams], of seeing Mr [Helmut] Marko always angry, telling me off," he said. "As if we were children. I see myself like that.

"This has created a trauma, and I'm convinced that Buemi and many others are going through it too.

"I have not been able to clean this. I have done therapies, and when I retired, several psychologists helped me to deal with this to make a new life, but I wanted to deal with this to clean everything I had lived before."

He later clarified his comments about Marko on Twitter, writing: "I am deeply thankful to have met him when I was 15, Helmut was my teacher and someone who always asked me to deliver to push and boost myself forward and beyond. This is the junior system and it works.

"I have not enough words of gratitude to RB and Helmut Marko because they have showed me a way of discipline, of dedication and hard f***ing work that is helping me out reach other goals in my life, in my music.

"I'm 100% sure I wouldn't be who I am today without being inside RB."