Alexander Albon says he is using his past experience of tough times to find his way back in F1 in the future as he doesn’t wish to waste time on sorrows.
It has been a long journey for Albon to make it into F1, where he almost moved away from the sport after his F2 stint to race in Formula E, before his contract had to be cancelled and thrown out, for him to sign up with AlphaTauri (Toro Rosso).
It was a dream run in AlphaTauri, where in only his first season, he was promoted to Red Bull Racing to replace Pierre Gasly. But the fun didn’t last long for Albon, as his first full year with the senior F1 outfit, became his last, after being replaced by Sergio Perez.
He is still part of the team as a reserve but he will be trying his hard to find a way back in F1. “I’ve been through this kind of situation many times in my racing career so it hasn’t been all that bad let’s say,” said Albon to media including F1, Sky Sports and more. “There hasn’t been any violence in the background! It’s more just being about getting back into it.
“I’m confident in myself. I know I can bounce back. And that’s my target. I have been dropped before. It’s not been the first time. But what I learned was in the end of the day, you know, how much do you want it? I want it more than I would say anyone on the grid, and with that comes a lot of determination. And I won’t stop at any point. For me it’s just about putting my head down.
“I got through it before. I’ve been able to get to where I am, because of all the hard work I have done. And as I said I want that seat back. It is something I’ve carried with me since a very early age. What can I do right now that gives me a better chance or is beneficial to me? The way I see it is that, if you do wallow around you’re not doing anything to open any doors or to get a seat back.
“You just have to put yourself in a position where you ask yourself: ‘what can you do as a driver to give me the best opportunity?’ To me, that is obviously to get straight back into it and not to be negative,” summed up Albon, as he stressed on being disappointed certainly with the outcome where the timing didn’t side him, especially with the performances of Pierre Gasly at AlphaTauri and Yuki Tsunoda in F2.
Even though Albon is to race in DTM with AF Corse in 2021, the Thai racer’s main goal is to be in F1 with Red Bull. “My priority is F1,” he said. “That’s very clear . Both Christian and Helmut know that. If any races do clash, the priority will always be F1. There is that link between Red Bull, and DTM, and that’s been there for a very long time so it makes sense that when I do have any free time.
“I drive. I stay fit. Racing is always nice . if you can just get in the car it always helps to not sit around too much. For F1, my goal has to be with Red Bull. There’s not just two, there’s four seats there. My goal is really to wait and assess you know how it’s going. Obviously if everyone’s performing then you’d know what the situation is. On my side no.
“My duty is to focus on what’s going on right now. To focus on getting the best for the team and doing what I can like improve myself within the factory and with the guys. Once we can do that, then we’ll see what happens next,” summed up Albon.
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