Autosport Plus

A dropped F1 junior's story of redemption

Being dropped by a Formula 1 junior scheme would be curtains for many young hopefuls, but Sacha Fenestraz has responded in the most convincing way possible since moving to Japan

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Disappointment is par for the course for a racing driver. For every victory and championship triumph, there are many more frustrating weekends that fail to live up to expectation or result in heartbreaking near-misses. And for young single-seater drivers dreaming of Formula 1 superstardom, the prospect of being dropped by an academy scheme - widely seen as the direct route to the top - is perhaps the ultimate setback.

But how a driver responds when met with these adverse conditions can be the making of them, as proven by Alex Albon's rise from being dropped by Red Bull after one year in Formula Renault to flourishing at Toro Rosso and earning a shot at the senior team.

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Author James Newbold

James Newbold is Autosport's Plus Editor, responsible for coordinating website feature content.

In a sign of things to come, having completed his Politics and International Relations degree at the University of East Anglia in 2015, he left his graduation ceremony early to catch the last train to Brussels for the following day's Spa 24 Hours.

After a period as a freelancer, he joined the Autosport staff in 2018 and won the Motorsport UK young journalist of the year award. He initially edited Autosport magazine's Performance and Engineering supplements before joining the website team in his current role in 2020.

A keen enthusiast of anything that can be categorised unusual or niche, he enjoys unearthing little-known stories across all branches of motorsport, but has spent most of his career covering sportscars and is a regular part of the Le Mans 24 Hours reporting team.

He lives with his wife and children in Plymouth, England.