The 2022 Formula 1 world championship will see, among the many innovations, the return of Alexander Albon as an official driver, with the former Red Bull and Toro Rosso returning to the circus at the wheel of the Williams. A signature on the contract communicated and made official a few weeks ago, but which seriously risked not being fulfilled for a inconvenience really unusual.
To tell it was the same driver, today engaged in the DTM championship, who revealed this hitch to the microphones of the podcast F1 Nation: “This year I granted an interview for an Austrian TV – explained the 25-year-old – and, on the occasion, I met some Red Bull Austria executives for the first time. I visited the headquarters, which I had never seen in the past, and then went to one of these people’s home for dinner, taking off my jacket. At 3 in the morning I then left the hotel to go to the airport, but I realized that I had forgotten my jacket at his house, and in my pocket I also had the passport“.
An oversight aggravated by the fact that, just that day, Albon had to go to Grove to sign the contract for next season: “I tried to call this person – he added – but I didn’t want to disturb her. At the same time, I thought that I must necessarily arrive at my destination. I couldn’t wait or go to the embassy, I just had to take the flight. Obviously I called but got no answer, also because he was probably sleeping. At that point I remembered his home address, took a taxi and then tried to knock, but he was still sleeping ”.
In the desperation of the moment, Albon notices the presence of a person nearby, which will prove to be fundamental for solving the problem: “Fortunately – concluded the future Williams driver – I noticed someone leaving the apartment at around 3:30 am, walking towards the complex. At that point I followed him and knocked again, and this gentleman, named Max, opened the door: ‘Excuse me Max, I’m afraid I forgot my passport in your house’, I told him. It was there that he replied that I had not left anything in the apartment, but that I had instead left my passport in the television studios. It was only then that I went here and luckily there was a guard who had all the keys to open the doors. I recovered my jacket and went back to the airport, just in time to catch the plane ”.