“That’s My Dad”: F1 Photographer Reveals He Unknowingly Dismissed Alex Albon’s Father

Alex Albon has a lot of support at the Singapore GP as it’s the closest race to his native country Thailand — which doesn’t have its own F1 race yet. Albon‘s father Nigel has attended the last few Singapore GPs and was present in the paddock for the 2024 race. F1 photographer Kym Illman spotted the Williams’ driver’s father in the paddock and recalled the moment when he dismissed him.

In his YouTube video, Illman said, “Alex Albon has his father Nigel with him.” He added, “I’ve seen him at a couple of races. It must’ve been at this race going back a couple of years ago, Alex was coming out of the garage and his dad was with him walking slightly in front.”

“I didn’t know who he was and I was like, ‘Get out of the way’ and Alex said, ‘That’s my dad’.”

The F1 photographer highlighted that Nigel Albon used to be a racer back in the day. The Thai-British driver’s father first raced in the Renault Clio Cup in 1993. He later raced for Harlow Motorsport in the 1994 British Touring Car Championship (BTCC).

Generation Game

The future father of an F1 driver guides his Renault 19 around Oulton Park during a round of the 1994 British Touring Car Championship.

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Nigel got back to racing in 2001 when he drove for a single race in the FIA GT Championship for Porsche. In 2002, he won the Sepang 12 Hours while driving the Porsche 911 GT3. He then raced for three consecutive years in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia before retiring from motorsports in 2007.