When Alex Albon nearly gave up on his F1 dream after injuring himself during a bike ride with George Russell

Janmeyjay Shukla | 21/09/2022
When Alex Albon nearly gave up on his F1 dream after injuring himself during a bike ride with George Russell

Williams driver Alex Albon suffered a broken collarbone after going on an expedition to a new place with friend George Russell in 2017

Alex Albon and George Russell are good friends thanks to their journey together to the pinnacle of motorsports. However, things would’ve all gone wrong for Albon back in 2017.

Alex Albon joined Mercedes’ customer team Williams after George Russell finally got his deserved seat in Mercedes. He outscored Nicholas Latifi and Robert Kubica on several occasions.

However, there was a particular bike incident in 2017 due to which Albon might have never realized his F1 dreams. All thanks to the medical technology of the 21st century.

George Russell’s family-like relationship with Alex Albon

Alex Albon and George Russell drove for ART Grand Prix and were teammates together in the GP3. Moreover, they shared the same trainer and had a family-like bond.

The Thai-British driver explained to Chris Medland how the connection was with the Briton. He added: “Russell was always coming around. We would always have lunch and dinner together, he was like a part of the family.”

Both these drivers love adventure and used to go for bike rides. However, one adventure turned out to be a minor blow for Albon as he missed two races in GP3.

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The Bike riding incident which almost destroyed Alex Albon’s F1 dream

Albon recalls that they were going to a new and dangerous place for their bike riding expedition. His spare bike did not have rear brakes due to which he picked up this bike.

Russell took the good bike which was the main one with the rear brakes working. Albon recalls: “We didn’t realize it at the time, but we were going down a horse track. And that was a horse jump thing, a big stumped tree and the branches coming across the pathway. Behind the branch, there was a huge drop.”

The current Williams driver ended up doing a front flop after his rear brakes did not work at the drop. Due to this, he had a broken collarbone.

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Post Edited By: Janmeyjay Shukla
Alex Albon George Russell

About the author

Janmeyjay Shukla

Janmeyjay Shukla is an artist who contributes his expressions through words as an F1 writer and editor at The SportsRush. He is an F1 historian who has been watching the sport since he was a baby. Passed on from generation to generation, he has seen the prime of Michael Schumacher to the rise of Max Verstappen. A Mercedes fan from the days of the Brawn GP era, the sport runs in his blood. Besides Formula One, Janmeyjay is a Marketing Head and a musician who loves to sing and play Rock & Pop songs on guitar. His love for sports will never die as he is a loyal Liverpool Football Club fan as well!

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