Former Red Bull driver 'never got over' being teammate's with Max

15:40, 14 Aug

byCas van de Kleut

Before joining Williams after a year out of Formula 1, Alexander Albon was Max Verstappen's teammate for a year and a half. He now has another teammate in Carlos Sainz who is a seasoned race winner. However, the Thai told RacingNews365 there is a difference between the two as teammates.

Albon was promoted to Red Bull Racing in the middle of 2019. Here he raced alongside Verstappen.

While the Thai was his teammate, the Dutchman managed to win three races. After 2020, Red Bull decided to take a different direction, bringing Sergio Perez into the team. Albon remained with Red Bull in 2021, but this was as a test- and reserve driver.

In 2022, he moved to Williams, where he became Nicholas Latifi's teammate. From 2023 onwards, Logan Sargeant took over from the Canadian, while the American was replaced in the middle of 2024 by Franco Colapinto. Sainz is now Albon's teammate.

Albon candid about time with Verstappen at Red Bull Racing

According to the Thai, there are differences between being Verstappen's teammate and being Sainz's teammate.

“So when I was with Max, I was so consumed in just myself trying to improve, and a lot of that was kind of just digging myself into data and understanding, 'Okay, why... How can Max do this?' And 'how do I drive around these issues, and how does he feel there?'

"But I was inexperienced, so I didn't really know the right questions to ask in many ways, and I didn't really, I never really got on top of it.”

That is not the case now. Albon stated that this is due to him having the time to get everything in order during his year outside of Formula 1.

The Williams driver also said that now that Sainz is his teammate, it is easier to understand things because of that period.

About the Spaniard himself, Albon said that the former Ferrari driver speaks more in engineering language and that he understands the technical world of racing well.