Red Bull seeking F1 race seat for Albon in 2022

2021 Belgian Grand Prix

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Red Bull are looking to place Alexander Albon at a Formula 1 team next year after confirming their driver line-up for 2022.

Albon’s hopes of a swift return to the team he drove for in 2019 and 2020 were dashed yesterday when Red Bull extended the contract of his replacement Sergio Perez for a further season.

However Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is pleased with the development role Albon has performed this year and said the team is trying to find a race seat for him in 2022.

“Alex still remains an important part of the team,” said Horner. “He’s played a key role this year, he will continue to play that role.

“We’re just looking at is there any options in Formula 1 for him for next year. But in the event that he’s not in a race seat, he will be performing the same role that he has done for us this year.”

Albon is “doing a huge amount of work on 2022,” Horner explained. “He’s done all the heavy lifting early on and he’s playing a crucial role in that.” Albon will remain in that role “unless, of course, he has an opportunity to go racing,” Horner confirmed.

Alexander Albon, Red Bull, Autodromo do Algarve, 2021
Analysis: Why all is not lost for Albon as Perez gets another year at Red Bull
Albon previously drove for Toro Rosso, now known as AlphaTauri. His hope of returning to that team rests on whether they decide to continue with Pierre Gasly, who has already finished on the podium this year, and rookie Yuki Tsuonda.

Asked how strong Albon’s chances of landing a race seat next year are, Horner said: “You never know.

“He’s a capable guy, he’s a quick driver. He is doing a good job in the DTM, won his first race last weekend and he’s an important part of our team.”

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2021 Belgian Grand Prix

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16 comments on “Red Bull seeking F1 race seat for Albon in 2022”

  1. Okay where then? They will surely not replace Tsunoda just after one season right? What about Gasly? He has also nowhere to go besides staying at Alpha Tauri. That leaves Alfa Romeo and Williams. We are expecting Stroll to remain in 2022, while we expect Russell or Bottas at Mercedes.

    1. Gasly has outgrown Alpha Tauri. There is not much for him to learn at the team. He should do a Sainz and move to another team other than Red Bull. Albon x Tsunoda would make sense as an Alpha Tauri lineup.

      1. Sure, but where would Gasly go Olivier? Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren seem stocked, Alpine as well, then AT is the best option in F1 for him right now. And at the back Haas is settled as well, Alfa Romeo seems all but settled (Kimi stays or they take Bottas) and Williams probably is neither a better option for him nor really do they have a seat free (Russel or Bottas, maybe one position if Kimi stops and Bottas goes to AR).

        Pretty much the same would be true for Albon, but with probably less takers, unless RB want to sweeten the deal.

        1. I’d say if gasly’s options are aston or alpha tauri he should stay in alpha really, and if he wants to stay makes no sense to replace him with albon, maybe their patience could run out with tsunoda, after all albon was driving toro rosso decently at least.

  2. Sounds like a fun round table with Toto and Christian, Jost and Fred. Any tickets?

  3. Bear in a helmet
    28th August 2021, 9:21

    Sounds like Horner just trying to keep Albon compliant. So few drivers look like leaving and there are so many waiting in the wings that it’s hard to say how realistic such a prospect is, even if Horner really meant it.

    1. Not unlikely, no.

  4. Alex is simply not good enough. Why waste resources on a driver that ultimately just isn’t a generational talent?

    1. Kinda agreed with that, this great has at least 5 really strong drivers and a handful that are probably a bit higher than albon level, so he would be towards the bottom half of the field, it makes sense to get drivers that can challenge the best ones.

  5. I already made my point about this in length, so long story short: Unlikely, he becomes a regular driver, even moving to another team as a free agent.
    A Gasly-Tsunoda continuation is 99% given, while for AR & Williams, other drivers come first in priority order.

  6. Just lip service.

    1. This. But apart from that, even just verbally not realistically, increasing the pool of drivers for those available seats might help with just a bit more leverage for the teams to negotiate a slightly better deal with Merc. If he can make Merc spend more with just some talk he 100% would is my guess

      1. This is probably the intent.

  7. Prefer to see Albon at Alpha Tauri over Tsunoda. Not sure if he’s any less talented than Tsunoda. At least his professionalism is much better.

    Main thing for Red Bull surely is to keep Albon happy and “in the family”. He’s said to be doing a great job behind the scene, supporting the team and helping with setup each weekend as well as developing the current and next car.

    1. Agree on this, think it’s the only realistic chance for albon to get back into a red bull affiliated seat, if tsunoda doesn’t perform why keep him?

    2. At least albon was decent at toro rosso.

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