Mar.21 (GMM) Former F1 driver Jaime Alguersuari says the top category of motor racing turns drivers into “a puppet”.
The Spaniard, now 28, raced for Toro Rosso until he was ousted in 2011.
He is now a full-time DJ.
“When I left, I felt hate,” Alguersuari told the Spanish newspaper Ara.
“When you’re not ready and you go to a capitalist world like F1, you’re a puppet. You represent a brand, you don’t know who your friends are, you’re living a lie.
“In F1 you cannot have an opinion. I wanted to say mine, as I knew there was a difference between my car and the other.”
Alguersuari admits he was left bitter when his F1 career ended, as he believes Red Bull timed his ousting so that he couldn’t switch to another team.
“When it happened, it was easy to think ‘These people are my enemies’, but then later I realised that it was thanks to them that I came to F1 at all. They paid me to race and therefore I had to be grateful,” he said.