Ex-Ferrari Boss Blames Christian Horner’s Scandal as the Reason for Red Bull Missing out on Alex Albon, Hours After He Extends Williams Contract

Alex Albon failed to impress the likes of Helmut Marko and Christian Horner at Red Bull during the 2020 season. He was subsequently demoted to a reserve driver to make way for Sergio Perez. However, his fortunes turned around as he signed with Williams for the 2022 season. With Albon recently extending his Williams contract, Christian Horner’s investigation was revealed as the reason why Red Bull missed out on signing him once again.

Alex Albon’s move to Williams came as a boon for the Thai driver. He regularly outperformed his car, made it into Q3, and scored points in a backmarker car. Over the last couple of years, Albon has become one of the hottest properties in the driver’s market, along with Carlos Sainz. Yet, he decided to continue at Williams rather than look for a seat on one of the big teams.

Alexander Albon signed a long-term contract with Williams today that will see him drive for the team for the foreseeable future. However, there had been rumors that Red Bull had offered Albon a contract to come back and join the family where he started his F1 career. But Peter Windsor advised that the Horner incident and the unsettling situation at Red Bull were the reasons Albon refrained from joining that team. 

According to Peter Windsor’s Live on YouTube: “ I see Alex Albon is staying with Williams and signing away his future there, which is good. You may recall that I said he’s been offered a Red Bull contract and I still stand by that. I think it was all part of that buildup to the Christian Horner thing. But it became so messy and so imprecise about what his future might be there that he’s just taken the best option, which is to stay at Williams.” But what exactly did Williams Team Principal James Vowles see in Alex Albon when he was given a multi-year extension?

James Vowles sees Alexander Albon as part of the bigger project

Ever since Dorilton Capital bought Williams and James Vowles’ came in as a TP, things have started to change for the better at the team. Pat Fry was brought in as the Chief Technical Officer. With Vowles’ vision to become a front-running car once again, he considers Alex Albon as a massive part of the project. After all, many pundits consider Albon as championship-winning material.

James Vowles said, “We are delighted to secure Alex’s long-term future with Williams Racing. He has exceptional talent, technical input and dedication to the cause and this is a huge vote of confidence in Williams and the journey back to competitiveness that we are on. Since joining, Alex has consistently demonstrated his ability to perform under pressure, and signing him for the long-term is a big piece of the puzzle of moving us up the grid.”

What do you think about Alex Albon’s decision to stay at Williams? Let us know in the comments below.