“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.”
