Albon reveals 'best advice' from former F1 stalwart

Alex Albon has revealed the "best advice" he was given by a former Formula 1 Team Principal during his rookie season.

The Williams driver made his debut with Toro Rosso in 2019, having graduated from feeder series Formula 2.

He was quickly noticed for his ability to extract points out of an otherwise inferior car, with Red Bull choosing him to replace Pierre Gasly in the senior team midway through the season after poor performances from the Frenchman.

While at Toro Rosso, Albon received some words of advice from former Team Principal Franz Tost, who left the team at the end of 2023 having spent 18 years at the sister Red Bull team.

"The best piece of advice I got given, which was at the start of F1 career, was by a team boss called Franz Tost," he told the High Performance podcast.

"At the time the team was called Toro Rosso and he's an elder man, but he's gone through it. He's been at it from the ground up. One of them 'get your hands dirty' kind of guys.

"He was talking to me about F1 when I was a rookie and he said 'Alex, if there's one thing you need to learn about F1, it's to don't give a fuck'

"It sounds so simple, it doesn't sound that deep, but it's so true. I didn't really understand it until I went through the tough times. That's when we talk about this putting yourself first and being selfish."

Albon: I cared too much in the beginning

Although he earned a quick promotion to a top seat, Albon struggled to match teammate Max Verstappen while at Red Bull.

At the beginning of his career, he believed that he "cared too much" about his impact on the team with Tost explaining that he should focus on himself and performances on track.

"That's when I really started to understand what he meant. Because at the time it was like 'I don't really give a fuck' but actually, I do. I think I cared too much at the beginning," said Albon.

"It was strange for a team boss to say that, because at the end of the day he wants you to care about the team, he wants you to care about the image of the team, but he wasn't like that. He said 'You put yourself first' and then that's it."