Alex Albon has admitted he was a ‘man who was’ during his brief stint as Max Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull, revealing the steps he took to become more independent in F1.
Albon enjoyed a meteoric rise after arriving in F1 with Toro Rosso in 2019, being promoted to Red Bull’s senior team halfway through his debut season.
Having struggled to maintain speed with star driver Verstappen, the Thai driver was nevertheless demoted to reserve prestige to make way for Sergio Perez at the end of 2020.
After spending a season as Red Bull’s reserve driver, Albon returned to a full-time seat with Williams in 2022 and has since emerged as one of the most exciting talents on the grid.
The 27-year-old scored one of the team’s 28 problems last season, when Williams finished seventh in the constructors’ championship (their result since 2017) and Albon visibly gained confidence.
In his appearance on the High Performance podcast, Albon admitted that he was too comfortable during his time at Red Bull and has now surrounded himself with a strong network of other people (including a manager and a psychologist) to help him expand as an F1 driver.
He said, “I learned that there were two spaces in which to paint.
“First of all, I felt like I was a ‘yes man’ at Red Bull. I was too eager to impress and please, so I said yes to a lot of things and learned that my power, my intellectual power, was too exhausted to begin with, even before I was given the car.
“At that point, the performance was just natural. Where were my weaknesses compared to Max?Why could he drive that taste of car, why could he drive it that way?In what race control spaces could I struggle compared to him?
“I’ve created almost two zones, two aspects: the race aspect and the non-race aspect, but of course it’s all in one.
“I sat down with my coach, I’m a manager myself, I’m a social media user myself and a psychologist.
“I was on the network, so I had a genuine team. I chose other people who might not have the maximum experience in their roles, but who would fight with me to the death.
“And those are the same people I have with me today — other people who looked for an opportunity but cared about me.
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“I chose a guy from Red Bull who fought for me, no matter how complicated the scenario was. He became my manager and then my coach, who has clearly been with me from the beginning.
“So I built my network and on the other hand there was driving, which was very tricky because I couldn’t drive the car because I just didn’t have a seat.
“I did a lot of painting in the simulator, which gave me a greater understanding of things. How can I be the most productive driver possible and will that put me in the most productive position?I’ll do it. “
Albon’s comments come after it emerged that the Thai driver wishes to “break free” from his current contract with Williams, with ESPN reporting that several groups are “keeping an eye on his situation. “
The report claims that two anonymous people unsuccessfully tried to sign him for the 2023 season.
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