Jaime Alguersuari will race for Virgin in the new Formula E

Building a career in today’s Formula 1 is quite difficult because, besides having talent behind the wheel, you need solid financial backing to help seal a deal with a team. Jaime Alguersuari is a good example of how hard it is to make it into the big circus, and since his return to F1 is very complicated, he is going to race in another championship, the novel Formula E, which starts in September.

In 2011 Alguersuari seemed to have a promising future in F1, because at just 21 years old he had already completed a season and a half at the wheel of Toro Rosso. The Faenza team decided to let him go, so he became a test driver for Pirelli and negotiated options to return to F1, which never materialised. With F1 on hold, the Catalan’s next destination will be Virgin, one of the most promising teams in Formula E.

A team’s budget is key in any motorsport competition. If your team has the magnate Richard Branson behind it, that problem is smaller, so Virgin is expected to be competitive. Alguersuari’s teammate on this team will be Sam Bird, aged 27, runner-up in GP2 and with experience in F1 cars, having been a test driver for Mercedes.

Alguersuari’s goal is to be competitive, to recover the feeling of racing and to try to fight for the championship. Formula E could be a showcase for F1 teams to take an interest in him again, but in various interviews the Catalan has said he does not want to hear anything about that for the time being, and his statements suggest both that he resents F1 and that he is biting his tongue, since he is working for Movistar TV commentating on the championship.