Alexander Albon

Biography of F1 driver Alexander Albon

Hailing from London, Alex Albon is a Thai-British driver who has experienced a dynamic journey in F1. Graduating from various junior motorsport categories alongside fellow future F1 drivers, Albon entered the pinnacle of motorsport in 2019 as a member of the Red Bull team

Explore the details of Alex Albon's life and career.

Albon's early career

Albon's racing journey started at the age of eight in the Honda Cadet class in 2005. Making rapid strides in the world of karting, he maintained an impressive record, consistently securing top-three finishes in every championship from 2006 to 2011.

He achieved numerous championships at both British and European level during his karting career. In 2010, he secured victories in the CIK-FIA World Cup and the CIK-FIA European Championship, both in the KF3 category. Notably, Albon went up against rivals such as Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc during his karting days.

Transitioning to single-seaters in 2012, Albon participated in the Formula Renault 2.0 series for several seasons, achieving a notable third-place finish in the 2014 Eurocup category.

In 2015, Albon advanced to the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, where he secured five podium finishes and concluded the season in seventh place overall.

Taking another step up in 2016, Albon joined the GP3 Series. Despite not clinching the title, he claimed four wins and seven podiums, with the championship going to his team-mate, Leclerc.

In 2017, Albon was given his debut in Formula 2 with the ART Grand Prix team. It was a year in which he broke his collarbone in the fourth round of the championship in Baku, going on to finish 10th in the standings behind champion Leclerc.

Albon's second year in F2 was more successful after moving to DAMS, where he was partnered with Nicholas Latifi. He won three feature races and a sprint en route to finishing third in the title race, won by George Russell with Lando Norris second.

It initially appeared as if Albon would head to Formula E at the end of the year after signing to race for the Nissan e.dams outfit. However, late on, he was given an opportunity with Red Bull to race for Toro Rosso in 2019.

Toro Rosso and promotion to Red Bull

Albon was paired with Daniil Kvyat for his first season in F1, and over the first 12 grands prix, he performed well enough, scoring points in five events, including sixth in the German Grand Prix.

Remarkably, after the Hungarian Grand Prix, Red Bull announced that Albon would be promoted to the main team to replace the struggling Pierre Gasly, who was demoted to Toro Rosso.

A strong run of seven points-scoring finishes, all inside the top six, with a high of fourth in Japan. In the penultimate race in Brazil, Albon was running second when he was hit by Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, an incident that saw him finish 14th at the flag.

After finishing sixth for the final race in Abu Dhabi, Albon was retained by Red Bull as Verstappen's team-mate in 2020. Matching the Dutchman's pace over the course of the year proved challenging, though, and Albon was unable to take a podium finish until the Tuscan Grand Prix, the ninth race on the calendar.

Although another third place followed in Bahrain, the 15th of the 17 rounds in the Covid-hit year, Albon finished 109 points behind Verstappen, leading to him being demoted to the role of test and reserve driver for 2021.

It was announced in September that year that Albon would be returning to the F1 grid in 2022 after signing for Williams.

Return to F1 with Williams

It was a difficult first year with Williams for Albon, whose only points before the 16th round in Italy were two ninth-placed finishes in Miami and Belgium, and 10th in Australia.

It was at Monza that Albon contracted appendicitis before the third practice session, forcing him to withdraw from the event and undergo surgery. Worse followed when it was revealed that post-operative complications resulted in him going into respiratory failure.

Although he recovered in time to return to the cockpit for the next race in Singapore, he struggled there and in Japan, retiring from both, followed by the final four races in which he finished outside of the points.

For 2023, Albon took up the role of team leader following the departure of Nicolas Latifi and the arrival of rookie Logan Sargeant.

After collecting a point in the season opener in Bahrain, it was not until the eighth round in Canada and a seventh-place finish that a corner was turned for the year. Points followed in an additional five races, leading to him scoring 27 for the year, and Williams finishing seventh in the constructors' championship.

Tough times returned in 2024, notably via several high-profile crashes, whilst he scored points in just four grands prix, leading to him finishing 16th in the standings, and Williams dropping to ninth in the constructors' championship.

It was announced in July that Albon would have a new team-mate for 2025 in Carlos Sainz.

With the team making major changes in the background under the leadership of James Vowles, following his arrival as team boss in February 2023, Albon started the season in stunning fashion, with points in seven of the first eight races, including a trio of fifths in Australia, Miami and Imola.

Unfortunately, three successive retirements followed before Albon rediscovered his points-scoring form with another run of four in five, and another fifth, this time in the Dutch GP.

The end of the season, however, was a sad one from Albon's perspective as he did not score in the final eight grands prix. His earlier form, though, and that of Sainz, who collected two podiums in his first campaign with the team, led to Williams finishing a superb fifth in the constructors' championship.

Albon and Sainz will continue as Williams' driver line-up in 2026.