Red Bull still have 'execution edge' over rivals - Albon

Alexander Albon believes "well-executed" Red Bull still possesses an "edge" over other teams in that area.

Speaking exclusively to RacingNews365, the Williams driver argued it is "one of the biggest positives" the Milton Keynes squad has, something it developed in the lean years whilst Mercedes dominated F1.

The 28-year-old raced for the reigning constructors' champions from the second-half of 2019, his rookie season, through to when he was sidelined in place of Sergio Perez at the end of 2020.

The Thai-British driver took two podium finishes in that span and has a good understanding of how the team was able to ready itself for returning to title-winning ways.

After his demotion, he provided development and testing support during 2021, when Max Verstappen won his first drivers' championship, and the first title of any description for Red Bull since 2013.

Having enjoyed near-unblemished dominance since mid-way through 2022 to the early part of 2024, the Christian Horner-led team now faces a very different prospect over the final 10 rounds of the current campaign.

The RB20 is now on par, or even slightly behind its rivals, and with just a 42-point advantage over McLaren in the constructors' standings, there is a very real possibility the Woking team wins that championship for the first time since 1998.

However, Albon believes Red Bull still holds one key advantage over the opposition, which could prove critical during the run-in.

"Despite everything I still see Red Bull as a very well-executed team," he explains.

"I still feel like they haven't lost their edge in terms of execution. Pit stop strategy, generally speaking, is always very good. 

"And they do show you that even with not always having a top car, either if it's Max [Verstappen] or if it's team, they seem to execute things very well.

"I think that's one of the biggest positives Red Bull has always had, is the years where they've been behind Mercedes, they've created a very strong race team, general team.

"And to me, you still see a little bit of that, like that final little bit, they seem to have an edge on [over] other teams."

Albon unsurprised by loss of Red Bull advantage

Regardless of any strategic or delivery deficit McLaren might have to Red Bull, it has been able to reduce the gap from 115 points earlier in the year to where it is now.

That is owing to the impressive development path the team has taken the MCL38 on, which started the season fighting against the Mercedes W15 as the third-best car. 

Now, the both outfits appear to hold a narrow advantage over Verstappen's Red Bull. However, it is not something Albon is surprised by.

"Eventually, people were going to catch up," he contends. "I think that's the great thing about the regulations not changing, is there's enough time for teams to catch up. 

"McLaren, you can just see, their car looks quite different to the other top teams to drive, it just looks a little bit different, and they seem to make it work, which is which is very interesting.

"I've seen people talking about [how] the development of the Red Bull cars just slowed down, because they've got to their peak and they struggle to add more performance to their car.

"I guess you could see, at some point, the limitation - the regulations are limited so you can only do so much."