“IndyCar at the time attracted me more”– Alex Albon almost mapped IndyCar stint if Williams hadn’t hire him

Tanish Chachra | 11/09/2021
"Alex is the right driver” - Senior advisor Jenson Button confident of a healthy relationship between Williams and Alex Albon

“IndyCar at the time attracted me more”– Alex Albon almost chose IndyCar rout over other destinations for 2022 if F1 hadn’t called him back.

Alex Albon was reported to contemplate over several motorsport avenues for 2022, including the IndyCar, where Romain Grosjean personally tried to convince him to take a route to America.

But in the major turn of events, he got announced by Williams to replace George Russell. Though, Albon confirms that he preferred an IndyCar move over others.

Asked if he seriously considered racing in alternative series like IndyCar, Albon said: “Yes I did and you have to as well. You think about F1, but FE was also in consideration.”

“You can plan as much as you want for F1, but if it doesn’t happen, then you will have nothing. You can’t play that game where it’s all or nothing. So I had to think about a plan B route: and those two [series] came to mind. IndyCar at the time attracted me more so than FE.”

“I went to Indianapolis to watch the racing and I liked it. I obviously had a chat with Romain as well, and it looked exciting. But my priority was always F1.”

“The other thing about that is that F1 can wait, because the decisions happen quite late compared to other series. So it was quite a tricky balance to have when you’re trying to keep options open for the F1 seats while the movement, the musical chairs, was still happening.”

The sidelines were never fun

Albon for 2021 was demoted in Red Bull’s pecking order after the arrival of Sergio Perez, and he talked about how he struggled with accepting the role on the sidelines.

“It’s been a year to reflect as well on things, things that I could change and learn from 2020,” he explained. “It’s been, at the same time, quite a tricky year. Just watching on the sidelines is never fun.

“But it built my hunger, and obviously I’m very thankful and very excited to be getting back into it.”

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
Alex Albon Red Bull

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

Don’t miss these