While Red Bull continues to search for a driver who can at least match Max Verstappen’s performance and bring the second RB21 into the points, one of the latest ‘purged’ drivers from the Horner-Marko management is making waves elsewhere. Alex Albon, who was Verstappen’s teammate for half of 2019 and all of 2020 before being ‘demoted’ to third driver and then transferred to Williams, has been the true revelation of the first three races of this season.
It was already known that the Thai driver had speed; after all, he was the ‘third musketeer’ of F2 in 2018, where he competed for the championship, battling with George Russell and Lando Norris, two drivers who are now considered among the best on the grid. However, Albon had never been able to find the right stability and consistency in his performance, partly because he had never driven—except for the 18-month stint at Milton Keynes—for a top team.
Now, however, aided by Carlos Sainz’s delayed adaptation to Williams, the #23 driver is experiencing the best moment of his career in the Circus. In the first three rounds of this season, Alex Albon has always scored points and is in seventh place in the Drivers’ standings, ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Not only that, but the three consecutive top-10 finishes mark a small milestone in recent Williams history. It had been since 2017 that the historic British team had managed to get points for three consecutive GPs.
Alex Albon has also single-handedly dragged—18 points to just one for the former Ferrari driver—the team managed by James Vowles to fifth place in the Constructors’ standings. With such a tightly-packed midfield, maintaining this position won’t be easy, but for now, the team at Grove can enjoy their best start to the season since 2016. All thanks to a ‘discarded’ Red Bull driver, who they may now regret losing.
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