Alex Albon has been the talk of the paddock recently, thanks to his impressive P6 qualifying performance with Williams ahead of the Italian GP. He has been posing a direct challenge to the big guns of the grid, including George Russell. However, while praising his friend, he couldn’t help but make a nuanced statement of their history together.
Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time Formula One World Champion, was left baffled by the pace of Williams driver Alex Albon during the Italian Grand Prix qualifying session. The Briton said that he would struggle to overtake Albon in the race after an underwhelming qualifying session on Saturday. Albon out-qualified Hamilton’s Mercedes in qualifying at Monza and, after the session, Hamilton claimed that the Williams would be “impossible to overtake”
George Russell on Albon’s struggles at Red Bull
Russell mentioned how he followed Albon during his time at Red Bull when the British-Thai driver was Max Verstappen’s teammate. It brings back painful memories as Albon was teammates with one of the best drivers on the grid. He couldn’t quite keep up with the pace despite being in a race-winning car. Russell joked about how they would see each other get eliminated in Q1 back then (Russell was with Williams), and now, they are both into Q3, despite Albon driving for the British team now.
Alex Albon joined Red Bull in 2019, replacing Pierre Gasly as Max Verstappen’s teammate. He took his first podium finish at the 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix. However, he struggled to keep up with Verstappen’s pace and was comprehensively outperformed by the Dutchman.
Helmut Marko rules out Alex Albon return
In a recent interview, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko said Alex Albon would not be given another chance to drive for the team. Albon was without a seat at the end of 2020, when Red Bull sacked him, and it wasn’t until 2022, did he find his way back to the grid with Williams.
Marco said Albon “already had a chance” at Red Bull, adding that he had not shown enough progress to warrant another chance. He added that the team is happy with the current line-up of Verstappen and Sergio Perez. The Red Bull chief also said that they were looking for someone who could challenge Verstappen and that Albon was not that person.
Albon’s struggles at Red Bull were well documented in Netflix’s Drive to Survive. He made a lot more mistakes than Verstappen did, and was not consistent enough .
