Alex Albon celebrates his 25th birthday: Does he have a future in Formula 1?
F1 News
- Cameron Smith
Today [Tuesday 23 March] we say 'happy birthday' to Thai driver Alexander Albon. Despite losing his seat at Red Bull Racing for the 2021 season, Albon will race in the DTM series whilst performing his duties as Red Bull's reserve driver this year. Could we see him back in Formula 1 soon?
His Early Career
Albon started karting at the age of eight, racing in the Honda Cadet class from 2005, and had an incredible record of never finishing outside the top three in any championship between 2006 and 2011, beating the likes of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen during that time.
His karting performances alerted Red Bull who signed Albon as a junior driver in 2012, the year in which he graduated to single-seaters. He moved up through the ranks to the GP3 series in 2016 where he came second in the championship, behind only ART Grand Prix teammate Leclerc.
He raced for ART again in 2017, this time in Formula 2 where he finished 10th in the championship.
The next year he moved to DAMS to partner Nicolas Latifi for the 2018 F2 season. Albon impressed hugely, taking four race wins, seven podiums and three pole positions to finish third in the championship, behind fellow future F1 drivers George Russell and Lando Norris.
He initially failed to grab a seat in F1, unlike Russell and Norris, signing a contract with Formula E team Nissan e.dams to drive for them in 2019. However, he was released from that contract in November 2018 and was signed by F1 team Scuderia Toro Rosso to restore his relationship with Red Bull, and drive alongside Daniil Kyvat for 2019.
Toro Rosso
Albon made his F1 debut at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix, finishing 14th in his opening race.
He impressed in his rookie season, scoring 16 points in 12 races for Toro Rosso, including a sixth-place finish at the German Grand Prix, and his form, combined with Pierre Gasly's lack thereof, meant Albon was promoted to Red Bull for the second half of the 2019 season.
Red Bull
Albon made his Red Bull debut at the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix, starting in 17th place due to a power unit change, and charging through the pack to finish in fifth at the famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
During his time at Red Bull in 2019, Albon scored 76 points in nine races and was cruelly denied his first podium at the Brazilian Grand Prix when Lewis Hamilton dived on the inside and spun Albon around when the Thai driver was on course for a second-place finish.
In 2020, the same thing happened in the opening race at the Austrian Grand Prix. Albon was on fresh tires and looked set to win before Hamilton spun him around again, costing him yet another podium and most likely his first race win.
That race set the 2020 season in motion, and Albon struggled to get a grip of the challenging Red Bull car, managing two podiums all year, and only seventh place in the driver's championship.
His poor form in 2020 and Sergio Perez's impressive performances for Racing Point meant that Perez replaced Albon at Red Bull for the 2021 season, with Albon demoted to reserve driver for this upcoming season.
DTM
Alongside being Red Bull's reserve driver, Albon is set to participate in some races of the 2021 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, alternating with Formula E driver Nick Cassidy. He will drive for the Italian team AF Corse with backing from Red Bull.
Will we see Albon back in F1, either with Red Bull, AlphaTauri or someone else in 2022?
Whether we do or we don't, happy birthday Alex!