Alexander Albon was a young, exciting talent in the 2019 season. After making a flourishing start to his career in F1 with solid performances at Toro Rosso, he garnered the attention of Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko.
And When Pierre Gasly got dropped mid-season, Red Bull called Albon up to partner Max Verstappen at the team. He impressed one and all with his overtaking skills in his debut race for the Austrian team. At the Brazilian Grand Prix, he was in podium positions until the final laps when he got punted by Lewis Hamilton.
The same happened at the season opener in Austria 2020. Alex was in a winning situation until he made contact with Hamilton with few laps to go.
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Hamilton destroyed Albon’s career at Turn 4: Red Bull advisor
In his interview with Motorsport-Total, Helmut Marko described the collision with Hamilton as a career-defining moment for the Thai driver.
“Turn 4 is famous. I think Hamilton destroyed Albon’s career there,” said the Red Bull advisor.
“If Hamilton hadn’t sent him out there in 2020, Albon would have won the race. Then maybe everything would have looked very different because of the psyche and that Then of course develop self-confidence in a completely different way,” said Marko. (Translated via Google Translate)
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Helmut Marko gives an insight into Albon’s career
The Thai driver is currently the reserve driver of the Austrian team. He has been immense in Red Bull’s as he helps in developing the car in the simulator. But his return to F1 seems unlikely according to Marko.
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“Albon is great on the simulator. He’s also doing a very good job overall. He recently tested for Pirelli. We’re trying to keep him in the family. But if he gets a racing seat somewhere, we’ll get him don’t stand in the way. ” said Marko.
With major driver reshuffling on the cards for the 2022 season, will Albon return to F1? Let us know what you think.