Alex Albon seems to be in the form of his life recently as he has been mightily impressive with a struggling Williams. The Thai-British driver has scored 21 points and has finished as high as seventh despite having one of the slowest cars on the grid. Even though the 27-year-old seems to be having a purple patch at the moment, it was not always easy for him. Albon has now explained how it was tragic for him to go up against Max Verstappen at Red Bull five years ago as he had not found his feet since then.
Albon has been one of the many drivers who found it difficult to go up against the Dutchman. The 27-year-old, who replaced Pierre Gasly at Red Bull midway into 2019, was then replaced by Sergio Perez in 2021.
After having been replaced two seasons ago, Albon had to sit out for a full year before he returned as a full-time driver with Williams last season. Ever since returning, the former Toro Rosso driver has not looked back and has impressed on most occasions.
Alex Albon reveals why he was hesitant to join Red Bull
Since Pierre Gasly was not meeting expectations at Red Bull in 2019, the team decided to replace him with Alex Albon. Even though he believed at the time that it was too soon for him to join the Milton Keynes-based outfit, he has now revealed in a conversation with Ted Kravitz about why he could not decline the opportunity.
When Kravitz via Sky Sports F1 told Albon that he never believed it was right for the 27-year-old to move to Red Bull at the time, the Thai driver replied, “I kind of had a similar reaction. I had to take the opportunity even if you don’t feel ready or not“.
Albon believes that this was the case as he would never know if he would receive a similar opportunity ever again in F1. While Albon’s performances at Red Bull were not up to the mark, team principal Christian Horner also had another issue with him.
The 49-year-old believed that Albon was “too nice“. The 27-year-old believes that he needed to behave in such a way as he was very young and wanted to be in the good books of everyone on the team. While Horner had this criticism of the current Williams driver back in 2019, he is all praises for his former racer now.
Albon reveals how Horner often contacts him
In an interview earlier this season, Alex Albon revealed how he and Christian Horner continue to share a strong relationship. With the Thai driver having been very impressive this year, the Red Bull team principal has often praised him this season.
Speaking of the same, Albon said in an earlier interview (as quoted by planetf1.com), “Christian is always messaging me, telling me ‘good job‘”. The 27-year-old believes it is always nice for a driver to share such a strong relationship with their former team principal.
