Alex Albon reveals the ‘fundamental’ technical problem behind his failure at Red Bull

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Alex Albon has described the ‘engineering’ limitations that hampered him during his days as a Red Bull driver.

Albon made his F1 debut with Toro Rosso at the start of 2019 but was promoted halfway through the season at the expense of Pierre Gasly.

The Thai driver bagged two podiums and 14 top-six finishes for the team, but the deficit to Max Verstappen was deemed too large, and he lost his seat at the end of 2020.

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Alex Albon: I didn’t have the technical knowledge to succeed at Red Bull

In an interview with F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast, Albon said he didn’t appreciate the setup opportunities that were open to him at Red Bull. Given his inexperience, he was also unable to give the team precise feedback.

Ultimately, he was ‘far from’ the level of technical expertise required to succeed at Milton Keynes.

Albon has likened Verstappen’s driving style to playing ‘Call of Duty’ because of the sensitivity of the steering wheel, but perhaps part of the problem was that he didn’t know how to offset the car’s handling characteristics.

“When I was at Red Bull, with the lack of fundamental engineering knowledge, it was hard to know why it was so difficult,” he said.

As he becomes Williams’ longest-serving driver, how will Alex Albon’s Formula 1 career be remembered?

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“It’s so technically boring. There are things you can do with the car, which I most probably didn’t understand back then. The way you can set up the car and play around with it, there’s a lot you can do.

“Sometimes I was not giving the exact feedback that I should have been doing. Back then, it was just, ‘It’s doing this, it’s doing that.’ I wasn’t in the detail of understanding why.

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“Some drivers don’t like that. Some drivers are just quick, there’s not really a thought behind it, they just drive anything they get given. That’s great and that’s a nice thing to have.

“If I can understand what makes a car click and why it’s doing that. If I can understand that, I can also get the lap time out of it. Once I get that, then I can unlock it.

“Back then, at Red Bull, I would say I was far from that.”

Alex Albon thinks he needed ‘more time’ in the midfield before joining Red Bull

After losing his Red Bull seat, Albon spent a year on the sidelines before Williams gave him a second chance in 2022. He has since become one of the most respected midfield drivers in F1.

Indeed, at this weekend’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, Albon will pass Nigel Mansell at the top of the team’s all-time appearance list (96).

Reflecting on his brief stint at Red Bull, he admits that it came too early. George Russell and Lando Norris, two drivers he had grown up with, had time to build up their ‘toolbox’ while racing further down the grid.

“I had my chance at Red Bull,” he said. “I was a bit young at the time and maybe would have benefited from a little bit more time still in a midfield team and building my toolbox for a top team.”