Jaime Alguersuari has no doubts whatsoever about being able to return to Formula 1 as a race driver next season. Having been surprisingly dropped by Toro Rosso at the end of 2011, the Barcelona man is spending the current campaign as a commentator.
Not only did both he and Sébastien Buemi lose their race seats in favour of Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Éric Vergne but, having previously been assured that he would remain with Toro Rosso, Alguersuari was left without serious options for 2012. He therefore elected to take a year alongside James Allen for BBC Radio 5 live.
“The first day of being in the paddock with a microphone was terrible, a tough moment,” he admits, talking to Spain’s Mundo Deportivo. “I had only ever seen it from the other side in the past. But it was not the wrong choice.
“I have met more people in the paddock than over the previous two and a half years and that is very important. I can now enter any team garage without a problem, they all welcome me. When I was part of Red Bull as a driver, I had never spoken with Martin Whitmarsh or the people from Lotus; so being a commentator has opened doors.”
When specifically asked if he will return to the track next year, Alguersuari replied:
“I’m 100 percent sure that I will come back in 2013 and, when I do, I’ll be much stronger than in 2011 – I’m sure of that. My life has shot by very quickly but it seems to be going by more steadily now; I knew that was a necessary step and I’m pleased.
"With all due respect, if I had just gone to any team, my career would be dead and with no more options; and about DTM and touring cars…I can do that when I'm 35, not 22.”
To date, Alguersuari has refused to name possible teams with which he could return. Prior to becoming F1’s youngest ever driver at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, at the tender age of 19 years and 125 days, the Catalan was British Formula 3 Champion.
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