Battered by Max Verstappen, but has since matured into an established driver: Alexander Albon reveals that he hasn’t got any faster since 2020 …
Alexander Albon was one of the positive phenomena of the 2023 Formula 1 season: While his (rookie) teammate Logan Sargeant only scored a single world championship point, Albon contributed a whopping 27 points to the Williams account, practically single-handedly leading the team to seventh place in the constructors’ championship.
His reputation in the paddock is now correspondingly positive. But there are still those doubting voices who wonder whether Albon has really become so good since he was sidelined by Red Bull at the end of 2020 (at least as a regular driver), or whether Sargeant is actually so bad.
A question that is impossible to answer objectively. But one thing is certain: Albon is convinced that he would sell much better today if he were to be put back in the Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen – who, incidentally, was not yet a Formula 1 world champion in 2019/20.
Christian Horner’s team honestly tried to support him, says Albon, but: “Somehow it never really worked out.” “With the knowledge I have today, I could have done it. But it’s easy to talk in hindsight.”
For the commentators in Formula 1, it’s “always about comparisons”, says the Thai, third best of the “golden” Formula 2 year in 2018 with George Russell (1st), Lando Norris (2nd) and Nyck de Vries (4th).
“Yes, my time at Red Bull was tough. But that’s behind me. I’m much more experienced now than I was then, and experience is an immensely important factor in Formula 1. That wasn’t really taken into account during my time at Red Bull,” explains Albon and emphasizes: “I do believe that I drive better now than I did back then.”
A brief look back: Albon joined Formula 1 in 2019 as a team-mate of Daniil Kwjat at Toro Rosso. Up until the Hungarian Grand Prix, he had scored 16 points and Kwjat 27, although the Russian had an unusual rain podium in Hockenheim.
He then switched to Red Bull, replacing Pierre Gasly. Albon finished in the points in eight of the remaining nine races, was never worse than sixth when finishing in the top 10, was fourth once and fifth four times. A record that was acceptable for such a fast rising star.
In 2020, however, Red Bull’s expectations were perhaps too great for his shoulders. Albon lost the stable duel against Verstappen 105:214 and only made it onto the podium twice. Too little compared to his team-mate, who won two Grands Prix and finished on the podium a further nine times
What Albon has managed to do better since then: “A lot comes from experience, from knowing the cars, understanding Formula 1 and the tools at the wheel that you work with. You have to understand how to get a car to suit your driving style and how to drive at the limit and still have confidence in the car. These are things you never learn in your first year.”
“I think you start to figure these things out halfway through the second year. I’m in my fourth year now. You’ve got a pretty good handle on it. That’s where the lap time comes from,” he says, denying that he has also become significantly better in terms of sheer speed: “Sure, that may also play a role, there’s that element. But that’s not where the lap time comes from. “
