F1 | Alex Albon’s rise and fall at Red Bull

• The fact is that Alex Albon was not on the radar of any F1 team before 2019.
• His fast-paced junior career has become a model for his transition from zero to hero to zero in F1.
• Red Bull had given him a chance; clearly exceeded expectations in 2019.
• For more motorsports stories, visit www.Wheels24.co.za

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Alex Albon’s childhood dream came true in late November 2018.

“It’s an incredible feeling to know that I’m in Formula One next year,” Albon said at the time. “Throughout my single-seater career, I went through some ups and downs. Red Bull left me in 2012, so I knew from then on that my road to F1 was going to be much more difficult. I worked really hard and tried to impress every time I was I get in the car, and I have to thank Red Bull and Dr. Marko so much for believing in me and giving me a second chance … To have this opportunity is just amazing. “

A year later, on December 7, 2019, Albon was crowned the Formula One Rookie of the Year at the annual FIA awards event in Paris. Only the sky seemed the limit.

Except it wasn’t. Instead, in 2020, the mythical (and frustrating) limit would turn out to be that of the eternally nervous RB16, tamed by the unsurpassed adaptability of his teammate Max Verstappen. And Albon’s own inability to repeat the trick.

Now, without poles, fastest laps or wins in 2020; and zero points in four races, Albon is almost guaranteed to lose his seat at Red Bull, and his F1 career will be over.

Stunned, devastated and dejected, his bestial age will be another addition to the junk found in the dead end of Formula One’s Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

There is no sport as impatient as F1; and no team as brutally demanding as Red Bull. As a warning, that is clear.

Too good to be true?

Alex Albon’s fast-paced junior career has proven to be a model for his move from zero to hero to zero in F1. He was backed by Red Bull in his karting days, winning several series in and around Europe, culminating in a second place finish in the 2011 FIA Karting World Championship.

Three seasons followed in Formula Renault 2.0, where he finished 38th in 2012, when he lost his Red Bull endorsement, 16th in 2013 and 3rd in 2014. He promoted to the FIA ​​Formula 3 European championship in 2015, finishing seventh ; with the best of his career as runner-up to Charles Leclerc in the 2016 GP3 championship. 2017 and 2018 would be spent in Formula 2, where this last year he placed third in the standings.

Too aware that nowadays junior drivers can only enter F1 through their association with the manufacturers; And without having any contact with Red Bull since 2012, in late 2018 Albon acknowledged how slim his F1 prospects had become. As the best he could come up with, he tried out and signed for the Nissan e.dams Formula E team for the upcoming 2018-2019 season.

It was only in November 2018, through what seemed like divine intervention, did I receive a surprise call from Red Bull’s motorsports advisor Helmut Marko; being immediately released from his contract with Nissan and signed by Toro Rosso, thus becoming the second Thai driver in F1 history.

At the 2019 season opener in Melbourne, Albon edged out his teammate Daniil Kvyat. Just one race later in Bahrain, he scored his first F1 points. In China, he came out last but finished 10th, winning the Driver of the Day award. More points were scored in Monaco, Germany and Hungary.

It was magical, and the best was yet to come. On August 12, 2019, Red Bull announced their intention to leave Pierre Gasly in distress, who had been vastly outmatched by Max Verstappen throughout the season, trading him with Albon from the Spa round onwards.

In hindsight this should have been a red flag, but success can be blinding. Despite all the sacrifice throughout his early career, nirvana knocked on the door and he couldn’t deny it: fourth in Suzuka; fifth places in Spa, Sochi, Mexico and CoTA; and a set of sixth places in Monza, Singapore and Abu Dhabi. The second was up for grabs at Interlagos before Lewis Hamilton took him off the road. By the end of the year, he had scored a total of 92 points, good enough to rank eighth in the drivers’ championship – not bad for a rookie season on two different teams.

But then came 2020

Pre-season testing in February in Barcelona immediately revealed that the RB16 was a tough car. His nervousness comes from the loose rear end, so demanded by the rapid change of direction as he enters the corner; a legacy of having a design DNA defined by a power deficit from its Renault days, as a lack of straight-line speed can only be recovered in corners. But finding and accepting that deadline requires trust, which is where Verstappen has excelled in 2020, and Albon has come up painfully and very obviously short; further hampered by the fact that a team will develop a car that suits its fastest driver, never the slowest.

Red Bull, which has gained notoriety for promoting, demoting or firing underperforming drivers on a whim, has now lost patience with Albon, who despite a podium at Mugello now languishes at ninth on the points scale; and they have already publicly declared their interest in Sergio Pérez and Nico Hülkenberg as Albon’s most likely replacements for 2021.

If the “How did we get here?” it’s too painful to contemplate, so “What happens now?” it’s even worse.

The fact is, Alex Albon was not on any F1 team’s radar before 2019. Red Bull had given him a chance; It clearly exceeded expectations in 2019. Still, in 2020 it has fallen short of zero assist to Verstappen in the championship fight against Mercedes. If Red Bull no longer wants him due to his lack of current form, why would anyone else? In mitigation, as was the case with Gasly, being paired with one of the fastest drivers in F1 doesn’t help either.

Two things create pressure in F1: opportunities and mistakes. In 2019, Albon had the opportunity, but without pressure. But in 2020 there were both, as their resulting overcompensation only accelerated the vortex of their demise.

Tragically, his second chance was the last dance; and the latest addition to the crowded graveyard of previous Red Bull F1 failures: Scott Speed, Brendon Hartley, Robert Doornbos, Christian Klien, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Sebastien Bourdais, Sebastian Buemi, Jamie Alguersuari, Jean-Eric Verne and Daniil Kvyat (who also out of a seat for the end of the year).

Thanks for the memories, Alex. You were not the first and you will not be the last. But look beyond today and you will never walk alone again.

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