Red Bull bid goodbye to Alex Albon three years ago when they decided to bring Sergio Perez in at the end of the 2020 season. It was the season that saw Albon get comprehensively outperformed by teammate Max Verstappen. Consequently, the Austrian team decided to replace him with Perez.
Now, three years later tables have turned as the defending champions might be regretting letting Albon go. This is according to F1 expert and commentator Martin Brundle. Brundle believes so because, Albon is performing miracles in a Williams car, whereas Perez is struggling at Red Bull.
God bless America, God bless double points!🫡🇺🇸 raaaaaaahhh 🦅🦅🦅 pic.twitter.com/8dLFbCMm7E
— Alex Albon (@alex_albon) October 24, 2023
Despite being in a Williams car, Albon managed to claim 25 points and stands in P13 in the driver’s championship. His qualification performances have been exceptionally well. Furthermore, he has been shining bright in the Mexico City GP as well.
Now Brundle, speaking of Red Bull’s regret for letting Albon go, as per Crash.net, “It’s the stick and the carrot – some drivers do need an arm round their shoulder and reassurance and to be listened to carefully and to feel they’re valued within a team. I bet Red Bull wish they still had access to him.”
Alex Albon, Sergio Perez and Red Bull in 2023
After his Red Bull departure, Albon went out of the F1 grid in 2021 after failing to secure a seat but made his return in 2022 with Williams. In 2023, Albon started to really shine at the British team.
Perez only claimed two wins so far in 18 races. On the other, Verstappen has 15 race wins under his belt and 226 more points despite driving the same car as the Mexican. This made the energy drink-based team think about a possible replacement for the Mexican driver.
Alex Albon COOKED in FP1 😮💨#MexicoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/grI3m8vyUN
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 27, 2023
The 33-year-old needs to perform at his very best if he wants to keep his P2 in the driver’s championship. Given how Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso want to snatch the position from him and finish behind the defending champion Verstappen, Perez needs to make sure he defies all of them to keep his seat in 2024 safe.
Nevertheless, Red Bull has ample drivers in the pool who could be brought in to fill Sergio Perez’s shoes. From AlphaTauri drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo to young debutant Liam Lawson, these are very prominent threats to Perez if Horner and Marko want to part ways with Perez.
