For Alex Albon, seeing Lewis Hamilton in the rearview mirror would remind him of a terrifying moment in his memory. On two occasions, the Thai-born driver was denied a chance to step on the podium by the seven-time world champion.
In the 2019 Brazilian GP and 2020 Austrian GP, the Mercedes driver collided with the former Red Bull driver in a similar fashion. Albon moved on the outside, but Hamilton’s left front entangled with his rear right tire sending him spinning to the gravel trap.
Had he finished the race, Albon could have achieved his best-ever position. And this achievement could have saved him from being ousted from his Red Bull seat.
A first podium was in sight for Alex Albon, until this 😱
Lewis Hamilton received a post-race penalty, dropping him from third to seventh#BrazilGP 🇧🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/s3tkcHVL7C
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 17, 2019
However, Albon prefers to have the Mercedes driver’s defensive capabilities over former teammate Verstappen’s attacking skill.
Alex Albon rates Lewis Hamilton higher than Max Verstappen
Alex Albon and Max Verstappen were teammates at Red Bull for 1.5 seasons between 2019-2020. However, while the Dutchman was battling for wins, Albon could not bring consistent results to the team.
Verstappen is a generational talent, and Albon knows that. Yet the Williams driver prefers Lewis Hamilton’s defensive skills over his former teammates’ overtaking abilities. Quite ironic, given that the 7x World Champion had ended his podium hopes twice in a cruel manner.
Influencer Yung Filly asked some interesting questions the Williams racer about his F1 career. He was asked to choose between inheriting Lewis Hamilton’s defensive skills or Max Verstappen’s overtaking skills.
The question left the former Red Bull in quite a dilemma. However, Albon boldly answered, “I’d rather have Hamilton’s defending cause Max’s overtaking is ‘tricky’.”
The Dutchman’s aggressive “elbows out” driving style has merited him great success on the track. This is partly because the Red Bull cars have always been superior in the classical late-breaking “divebomb” overtakes that Verstappen is known for.
Albon does not blame Hamilton Anymore
Alex Albon would achieve his first podium 8 races later at the 2020 Tuscan GP. But after a poor run of performances, he was kicked off his Red Bull seat and replaced by Sergio Perez.
Later team advisor Helmut Marko commented that collisions with Lewis affected the 27-year-old driver’s career. However, Albon does not blame Lewis for how his career panned out.
The Williams racer has accepted them as racing incidents and moved on with his career. Albon claims such incidents can happen to anyone on track. He revealed that Hamilton even apologized after the race.
In hindsight, Albon claims he could have been more cautious in Brazil in avoiding a crash. However, he jokes that the incident in Austria was more on Lewis’s part.
