Alex Albon believes he was one of the “most unprepared” drivers in F1 when he made an unexpected promotion to F1 in 2019.
Alex Albon will return to the grid with Williams F1 this season, but this will be his third season in F1 career.
25-year-old Alexander Albon started his F1 career in Toro Rosso in 2019. Red Bull seized Albon from Nissan, which had a contract to participate in Formula E.
In late 2018, Alex Albon spent a productive season finishing third after FIA-F2 title George Russell (now Mercedes) and second-placed Lando Norris (McLaren). And agreed to a contract to race in Formula E.
For Alex Albon, Formula E was the only opportunity to continue motorsport at the time, and more importantly, a contract as a works driver.
But then, suddenly, Red Bull called Alex Albon.
“It happened very last-minute,” Alexander Albon told Motor Sport Magazine.
“I’m not going to elaborate on how the whole thing happened, but it was a tricky situation. Of course, I had a contract with Nissan, so I wouldn’t switch from Formula E to F1. It wasn’t as easy as I expected. “
“Of course, like any driver of my age, I’ve always wanted to be in F1. That’s the goal for everyone since I was a kid, but we had to look into the deal anyway.”
Looking back at the time, Alexander Albon admits that his dream of F1 seemed far away, with no potential as a young man not part of the F1 driver program.
“It was a very quick process,” said Alexander Albon.
“And until the second half of Russia (late September), I didn’t even think that F1 was possible, because for a long time I had the opportunity to participate in the program, be actually approached by the program, and so on. Because I never got it. “
“And suddenly, literally, in the last two races of my F2 career, I had this opportunity to be in F1.”
However, Alex Albon says he wasn’t completely ready for a sudden promotion to F1.
“I think he was one of the least prepared drivers in F1,” admits Alex Albon.
“I think everyone finished the test before arriving in F1, but my first test was literally the first day of the winter test in Barcelona.
“And I spun! I spun right away. I spun on Turn 4. It was like,’What the hell. Why did you start doing this?'”
Category: Category: F1 / Alex Albon / Williams / Red bull / Toro Rosso