Diving into Alex Albon's F1 career as he hits a century of races
The Williams driver, podium finisher and fast Alex Albon has had a respectable career so far in the fastest sport in the world, and heading into the 2024 United States Grand Prix, he’s set to start his 100th race in Formula 1.
© Motorsports
After making his debut for Toro Rosso in 2019 following an impressive F2 campaign the year prior, the Thai pilot transitioned to the top league. Then he abruptly got called up to the senior team, didn’t retain his seat, and is now a leader for the underdog Williams squad.
In an exclusive feature with Formula 1, the 28 year old sat down to reflect on his tenures – both first and second – living life in the fast lane. As the Thai driver has embarked on a very under the radar career so far, we will explore his past: his Toro Rosso debut, to the call up from the senior team, to now being Williams’ driver of the future, and so on.
2019: Toro Rosso debut and Red Bull promotion
Albon made his debut in F1 for Toro Rosso, replacing Brendon Hartley. © F1
After an outstanding F2 season in 2018 finishing 3rd behind future F1 drivers George Russell and Lando Norris, the Thai driver initially signed for Formula E team Nissan e.dams. However, the team abruptly terminated his contract amid rumors that Albon would instead be on board to F1 with Toro Rosso.
On that same day, the Red Bull junior team would announce the signing, officially confirming Albon would compete in the 2019 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. His teammate would be Daniil Kvyat, who was left without a seat for 2018 but would return following Frenchman Pierre Gasly’s call up to replace the departing Daniel Ricciardo to Renault.
Albon would start his first couple of outings decently, with three points finishes in the first six races, including P8 in Monaco. Following a retirement and three non points scoring finishes, Albon headed to Hockenheim with hopes to continue his good performance before his one DNF.
In an iconic and wet weather affected German Grand Prix, during the late stages of the race Albon defended against Gasly in the senior team, only for Gasly to misjudge Albon’s defensive movements and crash into the back of the sister car, retiring him from the race. With only 13 drivers crossing the line, Albon racked up eight points with a P6 finish. He added another point to his tally with tenth place at the succeeding Hungarian Grand Prix.
Albon stepped up to the second Red Bull seat abruptly for the Belgian Grand Prix. © Car Magazine Co UK
Following the summer break, a change came with it. It was announced that Pierre Gasly would be dropped from Red Bull following underwhelming performances, and in place of him would be Alexander Albon for the remainder of the season. This proved to be a big task for the rookie, as his task now was to compete on the same, if not higher level with his ridiculously talented new teammate Max Verstappen.
Considering Verstappen beat the French driver 11 to 1 in races and that the Dutchman collected 74% of the team’s 247 points, Albon had a mountain to climb to overcome his challenge. Luckily, he had the pace and consistency to keep a somewhat reasonable gap between him and Verstappen, finishing in the top 6 for all the remaining ten races, barring one.=
He was due for a podium – and potentially a race win – in São Paulo, but unfortunately his Red Bull spun around after getting hit by Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes. Besides the outcome of 14th, the second part of the year was amazing for both Albon and Red Bull’s standards, and because of that they signed the youngster once again for the 2020 campaign.
2020: Continuous development with podium finishes
After falling short multiple times, Albon finally got his maiden podium at Mugello. © Mark Thompson/Getty Images
The 2020 season was set to start in March, but due to much larger global circumstances the year kicked off in June from Austria. Following a late safety car in Lap 61, Albon attempted a move around the outside at Turn 4 on Hamilton, only for him to be hit in the same spot just as it was at Interlagos.
His first podium snatched away (once again), he strung together several strong performances, which finally resulted with a well deserved P3 finish at the Tuscan Grand Prix. After some underwhelming outings in the next five races following his maiden podium, the Thai driver would make up for it by securing third place once more at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Albon finished the season just outside of the podium in Abu Dhabi, ending up 7th in the championship.
2021: Keeping busy while sitting in the sidelines
Despite his promising progression and top potential, Red Bull opted to sign experienced Mexican Sergio Pérez from Racing Point, after he managed to go from last to first in the second race at the Bahrain International Circuit. Because of this, and many other teams having filled their seats already, Albon opted to take a reserve driver role for both Red Bull and their newly rebranded junior team, AlphaTauri.
The Thai driver kept himself busy racing in DTM. © DTM
It was of course a tough blow for the young driver, who showed what he could do given the time and place at the right opportunity. Albon spent his 2021 racing in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, a GT3 motor racing championship which saw him finish 6th overall, missing the final two races of the season. Albon also picked up a coaching role at the sister Red Bull team, even becoming Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda’s mentor midway through the F1 season.
2022: Comeback to the grid to struggling Williams
After a long wait, Albon announced his comeback by signing with Williams for the 2022 campaign, replacing the departing George Russell who got his callup to Mercedes. Seen as a major step back by many on the paddock, it was the perfect opportunity for Albon to show his skills with lackluster machinery.
Despite Williams’ unlikely P8 finish in the constructors’ championship a year prior, most of that was thanks to the Briton’s impressive and mature driving, as he took a majority of those points home for the Oxfordshire squad. This was the future though, not the past, as Albon set his sights to become the new team leader for the historic team.
Albon returned to F1 with Williams, competing in a backmarker car. © XPB Images/PA Images
Albon managed to record only three points finishes throughout the year, given he was driving a very slow and aerodynamically flawed FW44. His best performance arguably came at his first point scored in Australia, where he drove with the same Hard tyres for 57 laps before making his mandatory pit stop, and managed to finish the race in tenth.
Williams recorded six points for the whole season, with future F1 driver and Formula E champion Nyck de Vries accountable for a third of them, as he replaced Albon for the Italian Grand Prix following appendicitis for the Thai driver. This caused a severe snowball effect for the entire F1 grid, as we will dive into another day.
2023: Glimpses of speed and stardom start to show
Albon kicked off his 2023 season with a points finish at Bahrain, securing P10. Despite scoring no points for the succeeding six races, he made up for it with a seventh place finish in Canada and eighth at Silverstone two races later. Then came Zandvoort and Italy, where he came across the line P8 and P7, marking his first consecutive points finish since joining the British team last year.
Albon had a much more enjoyable season this time around, displaying his competence with a lackluster car. © F1
Down the line, Albon managed to (technically) score three consecutive top 10 finishes: seventh place in the Qatar sprint, and P9s in both Austin and Mexico. The 27 year old would finish the season with his age in points to his name, a massive improvement from his performance last year.
This year was a significant period for Albon. After struggling massively for the most part of last year, he redempted himself with some stellar drives and outstanding performances which put him on the radar for so many other teams. Despite the hype and interest from other parts of the paddock, Albon opted to stay with Williams for 2024, as part of his multi-year contract that he signed when he first joined the team in 2022.
2024: Relishing the moments to shine amidst the challenges
As the start of the season proved to be a harsh one for Albon – retiring twice and scoring no points in seven races – the now considered ‘veteran’ scored Williams’ first points of the season at Monaco, finishing P9. Then came another ninth place at SIlverstone, Italy, and a remarkable seventh place at Azerbaijan.
Currently, Albon stands with 12 points and sits 13th in the standings, a slight downgrade from his previous season, but of course there’s still plenty of time for him to provide some incredible drives for Williams. With a new teammate in Franco Colapinto and incoming teammate Carlos Sainz for 2025, next year will prove to be Albon’s biggest test since Verstappen all those years ago.
Nowadays, Albon’s being tested by his Argentinian rookie teammate. © Clive Mason/Getty Images
The hope for Albon in his next century of races is to bring the fight to the Spaniard, while also making Williams once more a competitive and constant points scoring team, working alongside his 30 year old teammate to reignite the fire in the legendary team.
As we look back at Alex Albon’s career, it’s easy enough to say that he’s overhyped, overrated, or even unable to face tougher competition. But, just remember he was thrown into the lions in his first ever season against a generational talent, was not given the right chances in his sophomore year, and dealt with a slow car his first year back. What we can do is appreciate his efforts and mentality to be able to accept his declining role in 2021, and to be able to maximize his opportunity.
Albon is not just your regular and average driver: he’s one of the most underrated drivers of his generation. He’s gone completely underappreciated for most of his time in the toughest competition in the globe, but with his recent performances and promising future ahead of him, that might change very soon.
