What athletes say and how they act is more scrutinized than ever. That’s why teams invest heavily in PR training. With the rise of social media, a single lapse in judgment or a poorly chosen remark can spread across the internet in an instant. Alex Albon has learned that the hard way.
The Thai-British driver welcomed a new teammate this season, as Carlos Sainz joined Williams after four years with Ferrari. While they seem to be getting along well, it turns out Albon doesn’t actually know his garage mate all that well.
In a recent YouTube video on F1’s official channel, drivers were tested on how well they knew their teammates. One of the questions asked was, ‘Who is most likely to be late for the national anthem lineup?’—a ritual that takes place before every F1 race.
Albon took Sainz’s name, but the reason was considered offensive for two reasons.
“I don’t want to stereotype here, but generally the Latin American population are a bit less time aware“, Albon explained.
The 29-year-old couldn’t have been more wrong— Sainz is from Spain, thousands of miles away from Latin America. But even if the Madrid-born driver were from where Albon assumed, the remark still wouldn’t have gone over well, as it carried a hint of xenophobia.
Albon is generally one of the more popular drivers on the grid, but his comment about Sainz didn’t sit well with everyone. One fan even took to X to admit they might have to rethink their opinion of him.
Remember a couple of weeks ago the whole “How can anybody not like Alex Albon”, well… https://t.co/3vTt3zRXDo
— Mo (@mo__xnda) April 1, 2025
Another fan questioned Albon’s grasp of geography, asking if he thinks “Spain is located in America.”
Does he think Spain is located in America…?
— Alex Albon’s pr manager (@leclercize) March 31, 2025
“Just another rich man who never finished school, I fear,” a user replied, taking a brutal dig at Albon.
just another rich man who never finished school, I fear
— leo (@formuleo_) April 1, 2025
However, Albon may not have been entirely in the wrong, at least from Sainz’s perspective. The former Ferrari driver has referred to himself as a Latino in the past (on Netflix’s Drive to Survive most famously), suggesting he wouldn’t have minded being labeled as such by his Williams teammate. From a strictly geographical standpoint though, both could be mistaken, as Latinos are typically defined as people with ancestry from Latin America—something Sainz likely doesn’t have.
Regardless, Albon will likely be more cautious with his comments moving forward. In 2023, controversial Red Bull boss Helmut Marko faced backlash from the community for making xenophobic remarks about Sergio Perez. He claimed that Perez wasn’t as focused as Max Verstappen due to his Latin American heritage.
That’s definitely not a road Albon would want to take in the future.
