Alex Albon will wear Red Bull Racing overalls for the first time at the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix, while competing for the Milton Keynes team seven years after retiring from the Red Bull junior driver program. But ahead of his senior team debut, the Thai driver revealed that he is not bitter about his 2012 sacking but fully understands why Red Bull made the decision to cancel him at the time.
After Albon was a leader in karting at the highest level supported by Red Bull – he finished second in both the WSK Euro Series 2011 and the CIK-FIA World Championship behind the current F2 leader Nyck de Vries – Albon switched to backing the single-seaters of the Red Bull Junior Team program in 2012, only to survive a tough year in which he finished 17th in the Formula Renault 2.0 Alpine Series and 38th
READ MORE: Albon vs Gasly – The Red Bull Driver Swap Path
Albon on the podium with future Red Bull Racing team-mate Max Verstappen at a karting event of the WSK Euro Series 2010
He was duly removed from the program after just one season, only to receive a shock for Toro Rosso in late 2018 after finishing third behind George Russell and Lando Norris in that season’s Formula 2 championship. That unexpected turn was followed by another during the summer break, when Red Bull felt Pierre Gasly’s performances had failed and announced that they would see Albon on the team for the remainder of the season at Max Verstappen’s side and make a remarkable turnaround would be the fate of the 23 year old driver.
READ MORE: Why Red Bull Made Its Latest Blockbuster Driver Swap
And after being told by Dr. When he had the chance to speak to Red Bull’s motorsport advisor about what happened seven years ago, he “didn’t really laugh, no” before admitting that there weren’t any harsh feelings about what happened in 2012.
“I wasn’t doing so well then,” he said, “and there was no reason to keep me on board, so no, none of that.
Albon spent 2012 alongside Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz. a season in the Red Bull Junior Team
“It’s nice that I’m a surprise to most people,” he added. “I almost wish it wasn’t a surprise! But it’s nice that people are happy with the way things are going. “
After Albon had driven a Formula 1 car for the first time in February of this year, Albon – who has only had a strong rookie season in 15th place in the drivers’ standings – is now preparing to compete in one of the top trends starting machines for the Belgian Grand Prix, a race Red Bull last won in 2014 with Daniel Ricciardo, while Albon was on the podium in F2 last year.
This function is currently not available because you have to agree to functional cookies. Please update your Cookie settings
This tweet has been removed from Twitter
Top 5 of the “Underdog” performances of the 2019 season so far
The post Alex Albon: Red Bull had “no reason” to keep me in the 2012 junior program first appeared on monter-une-startup.
