In the last two GPs of the season, Alexander Albon unquestionably established himself as one of the fittest and most convincing drivers in F1: the Anglo-Thai of the Williamswho returned to the Circus this year after his experience in DTM in 2021, has in fact brought the Grove team back to points area also thanks to an extreme strategy in Australia, where he obtained the 10th place after a stop made on the penultimate lap of the race. In the next appointment, in Imola, the 26-year-old has again touched the top 10, finishing 11th after having contained the attacks of Pierre Gasly and Lewis Hamilton for three quarters of the race.
The return to the top flight, albeit in a team still far from the top of the standings, has therefore given another chance to the number 23, who had spent 2021 in the role of third driver of the Red Bull. An assignment that Albon had accepted after a year and a half living in the same team as Milton Keynes as an official pilot, and with the subsequent relegation to test driver which had nevertheless been experienced as a real humiliation for the former standard bearer of the Toro Rosso.
Podcast host Beyond The GridAlbon has in fact remarked that particularly difficult moment in his career, during which he became aware of having lost a place in one of the most competitive teams of the lot: “It killed me, it was terrible – commented the former Red Bull – I got the news pretty late, I think it was in December. I thought they trusted me, so much so that I had an excellent relationship with the whole team, including Christian Horner and Helmut Marko. I kept wondering how I could get back to competing, but I still accepted the role of third guide – he added – I listened to Max and Checo, as well as their engineers, and it was also important to take that step back, staying out of the spotlight and looking at the weekends from a different perspective. For me it was still terrible to see the races from a distance, however, a car that was fast also thanks to my contribution, albeit not in a decisive way. Even people like Newey gave me credit for my work ”.
As with other drivers in Red Bull’s recent history, such as Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly, Albon was first promoted to Red Bull and later relegated to Alpha Tauri or as third driver within a short time. However, just like the Frenchman, he is still today one of the last points of the Milton Keynes team for a possible return to the team as Max Verstappen’s teammate for the next few seasons.
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