The ex-F1 driver who followed Nikita Mazepin into DJing
Ending your career in motorsport at just 25 years of age is highly unusual, but that’s what Jamie Alguersuari did.
Alguersuari spent just over two seasons in F1 with Toro Rosso before eventually moving to Formula E.
After falling out of love with motorsport in 2015, the Spaniard became a DJ.
At just 17, Alguersuari made his F1 debut with Toro Rosso at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Highly rated in Red Bull’s driver academy, he was drafted in as a mid-season replacement for the under-performing Sebastien Bourdais.
Naturally, given his lack of experience, he took some time to get up to speed.
Alguersuari would score his first points at the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix.
2011 is where he found his feet, with a series of big points hauls moving up ahead of Buemi in the championship.
Unfortunately his F1 career came to an abrupt end as Red Bull opted for Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne.
He would move to Formula E for a season before retiring from motorsport.
“I decided to stop because it’s time for change,” Alguersuari said at a news conference in Madrid when announcing his retirement.
“Something inside me says it’s the moment to take a different path because I think I have fallen out of love with this girlfriend who has been with me all these years.”
Since then, Alguersuari hasn’t looked back, despite participating in a number of Spanish karting events.
He told the Daily Star: “When I stopped F1 things started coming much easier. I spent more time in the studio, listened to different tutorials and studied music methods. It was not easy to make music while I was racing, I had to dedicate my time to my first capabilities and my main job."
Reflecting further on his decision to retire, he added: “At a certain point I wasn’t having fun anymore. I wasn’t really into racing anymore. I was in Formula E and the season didn’t go well. It was the first season of the championship, my car had many problems and I wasn’t really enjoying driving at all.
"I thought if I have to choose between music and racing, I’d rather go into my music now rather than continuing to do something without love and passion and wait until I’m 45 when it’ll be too late for music.
"At some point six or seven years ago I thought I’m really going to give it a go because I love this and enjoy making music, the whole process is amazing. It’s like going into a third dimension, it’s very difficult to describe because art is very different to racing.
"Creating something out of nothing and making it work, signing it to a record label and seeing other people that you don’t know enjoy it and seeing the project working is cool and amazing. I am enjoying the whole process, it’s really nice to see a different chapter in your life."
With racing firmly not in his mind, the 32-year-old has his sights set on British festival Glastonbury.
"I would love to play at Glastonbury, it’s one of those festivals that every artist looks. I want to go to many places in the world like Australia and Japan and experience new cultures and meet new people,” he concluded.
