Alex Albon out of Red bull Racing - daily car blog
Red Bull Releases The Hounds on Alex Albon
Formula One

Red Bull Racing has released the hounds on Alex Albon who is scurrying off into anonymity to become a Grand Prix driver’s worst nightmare…  a reserve driver. Albon is being replaced by Grand Prix winner Sergio Perez who himself was booted out of Racing Point to make way for Sebastian Vettel. Therefore Albon’s F1 racing career is on pause and he may never return to the F1 grid again. Albon is as much a victim of the ruthless Red Bull Drivers Racing Academy as he is a victim of the demands of Red Bull. It’s a double whammy for sure. However, and very unusually, Red Bull gave Albon an entire season to prove his worth to the team for 2021.

Albon has displayed excellent racecraft and when he has the car hooked up to his liking can cause a good deal of trouble. But his performances at the top end of the grid were inconsistent. The best drivers will always adapt to the car they are given and extract as much as they can. From the outside looking in it appears that Albon couldn’t adapt to the Red Bull RB16. Many argue that the RB16 was designed around Max Verstappen’s driving characteristics. But whatever the issue much more was expected from Albon than he eventually delivered.

Alex Albon and The Grand Poobah - daily car blog

Red Bull Grand PooBah, Christian Horner explained his decision:

“Having taken our time to evaluate all the relevant data and performances we have decided that Sergio is the right driver to partner Max for 2021 and look forward to welcoming him to Red Bull Racing.

“Alex Albon is a valued member of the team and we thought long and hard about this decision,”

In the end, the problem wasn’t so much Albon’s lack of ability to consistently deliver for Red Bull. It was Red Bull’s impatience and reliance on an outdated driving academy that needs dismantling because it hasn’t delivered consistently.


Alex Albon out of Red bull Racing - daily car blog
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