Alexander Albon

Biography of F1 driver Alexander Albon

Hailing from London, Alexander Albon is a Thai-British driver who has experienced a dynamic journey in Formula 1. 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 Alexander Albon's life and career.

Albon's early career

Albon's racing journey commenced 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.

The Thai driver achieved numerous championships at both the British and European levels 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 faced off against competitors 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 teammate, Leclerc.

F2, Formula E and a last-minute switch to F1

In 2017, Albon was given his debut in Formula 2 with the ART Grand Prix team. It was a year of mixed fortunes for the driver, who had to miss the fourth round of the championship in Baku after breaking his collarbone.

He ended the season 10th in the standings with 86 points, whilst the title again went to the familiar name of Charles Leclerc.

Albon's second year in F2 was a more successful one, having moved to DAMS where he was partnered with Nicholas Latifi. At round two of the championship in Azerbaijan, Albon claimed his first win in the series in the Feature Race after starting from pole position, though finished outside of the points in the Sprint Race.

A difficult weekend came in Monaco, where Albon was involved in collisions in both races. Things looked brighter at Silverstone, though, with Albon claiming another win in the Feature Race.

Further victories followed in the Sprint Race at Hungary and the Feature Race in Russia. Overall, Albon finished the season in third, placed behind championship winner George Russell and his fellow Briton Lando Norris, who would both make the step up to F1 in 2019.

Initially, Albon looked to be heading to Formula E, having signed to race for the Nissan e.dams outfit in the electric series. However, towards the very end of his second year in F2, Albon was given an opportunity from Red Bull to race for the then-called Toro Rosso F1 team in 2019.

Whilst the last-minute switch left Albon feeling slightly unprepared, he was thrilled to be given the chance to step up to Formula 1.

Toro Rosso and promotion to Red Bull

Albon was paired with Daniil Kvyat for his first season in F1, and had a strong start to his debut campaign. His first points finish came on his second race weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix, with a P9 result.

At the following Grand Prix in China, Albon put in a particularly impressive performance. A huge crash in Free Practice 3 had resulted in a trip to the medical centre as well as having to miss qualifying, meaning that Albon started the race from the pitlane.

However, the Toro Rosso driver worked his way through the field to reach tenth, taking another point in the process. There were further points finishes in Monaco, Germany and Hungary.

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 back down to Toro Rosso.

Albon finished fifth upon his debut for the squad in Belgium, and went on to consecutively score points for the next six rounds, with his best result being a fourth in Japan.

At the Brazilian Grand Prix, Albon was running in second before he was hit by Lewis Hamilton as the Mercedes attempted to overtake. This pushed Albon down to 14th.

He ended the season in eighth place in the World Championship, with a total of 92 points scored across his stints with Toro Rosso and Red Bull.

Albon was retained by Red Bull as Verstappen's teammate in 2020. Matching the Dutchman's pace over the course of the year proved challenging, though, and Albon was not able to take a podium finish until the Tuscan Grand Prix, the ninth race on the calendar.

A second podium came in Bahrain later in the season. Albon ultimately finished the campaign P7 in the overall standings with 105 points, some distance away from Verstappen in third with 214 points.

At the end of the year, Red Bull decided to replace the Thai driver with Sergio Perez for 2021, though opted to retain Albon's services as a reserve and test driver.

With Verstappen and the team taking the fight to Hamilton and Mercedes during the season, Red Bull were full of praise for how Albon's work on the simulator contributed to the efforts.

It was announced in September 2021 that Albon would be returning to the F1 grid in 2022 after signing for the Williams team.

Return to F1 with Williams

After a year on the sidelines, Albon replaced his good friend George Russell at Williams for 2022, with the Briton moving on to Mercedes, prompting Albon to quip that he owed Russell "a few beers" for putting in a good word for him.

Having seen his reputation suffer after his underwhelming Red Bull stint, many were unsure how Albon would fare upon his return to an F1 race seat.

But despite the limitations of his Williams FW44, the Anglo-Thai impressed in 2022, generally outpacing and outracing teammate Nicholas Latifi.

Albon scored his first points of 2022 with a fine drive in the Australian Grand Prix, where a combination of clever tyre management and a favourably-timed Safety Car period saw him work his way up to finish 10th.

Further points were scored in Miami and Belgium, and a contract extension with Williams was announced during the summer break, but Albon was forced to miss the Italian Grand Prix when he was laid low with appendicitis.

Worse was to come for the Williams driver, when it was revealed that post-operative complications had seen him go into respiratory failure.

Though Albon recovered enough to be back in the cockpit for the next race in Singapore, difficult weekends there and in Japan were likely caused by his ongoing recovery.

Team leader for 2023

As Latifi exits Williams after a three-year stint, making way for American newcomer Logan Sargeant, Albon is set to assume the role of the unequivocal team leader at Williams in 2023. He expresses his willingness to support Sargeant as the latter navigates through his debut Formula 1 season.

Albon's seasoned expertise becomes even more crucial for Williams, given the team's transitional phase marked by the departures of Team Principal Jost Capito and Technical Director FX Demaison during the offseason of 2022/23.

In 2023, Albon continued to drive for Williams, and it seems that he is far from done in Formula 1 now that he has found his rhythm. Rookie Logan Sargeant is his new teammate. The 2023 season went exceptionally well for Albon. He amassed a remarkable 27 points for the British team compared to his teammate's 1 point. As a result, Williams secured the crucial seventh position in the constructors' championship.

Will the 2024 season unfold as successfully as the 2023 season for Albon?