F1 News
Driver Profile: How Alex Albon got his Red Bull promotion in his rookie year
- Bevan Youl
Red Bull Racing have decided to promote Alexander Albon from sister team Toro Rosso to the senior team in replacement of Pierre Gasly. But why? We take a look at how he has earned his promotion half-way through his rookie season.
Albon had competed in Formula 2 the previous seasons in 2017/18, finishing tenth and third in the championships respectively. But Formula 1 was not the original route the Thai racer was set to take this year.
He had signed on with Nissan e.dams in Formula E but was released from that contract to drive for Toro Rosso with the returning Daniil Kvyat as they announced late November.
In his first F1 race at the Australian Grand Prix, Albon out-qualified his teammate, something they have split with each other at six each over twelve races, in Q2 starting 13th on the grid and finishing 14th.
After starting 12th on the grid in Bahrain, Albon claimed his first points of the season as he finished ninth ahead of his teammate by three places.
At the Chinese Grand Prix, Albon really showed his talent that earned him four wins in F2. Having started from the pit-lane behind everybody else after crashing in FP3 the Thai drove his way through the field to finish 10th, earning a point and the driver of the day title.
Two 11th-placed finished followed at Azerbaijan and Spain before he made his debut in Q3 at Monaco as he qualified 10th and then converted it to an eighth-placed finish.
Albon’s only retirement of the season so far had come in Canada, followed by finishes out of the top ten before Germany where he recorded his best result.
Amongst the chaos of cars sliding off and crashing at the Hockenheimring the Thai driver took advantage and finished in sixth place after starting 17th, battling on track with Lewis Hamilton at one point.
Another points finish in 10th before the summer break at the Hungarian Grand Prix rounded off Albon’s first half of his rookie season, leaving him 15thin the championship.
Red Bull’s decision to swap him and Gasly might have come as a surprise to many as Kvyat seemed the better option after his third-place finish in Germany and ninth position in the standings, but the Russian has been a red Bull Driver before so they know what he’s capable of.
But Albon has shown consistency throughout the season so far and Red Bull want to see how he performs for the next nine races before making an official decision for who will partner Max Verstappen in 2019.
How do you think Albon with handle driving for Red Bull?