Alexander Albon played a crucial role in Max Verstappen's title fight in 2021 and saw his colleague seize the title on the final lap of the race. Albon calls it 'Karma', that luck finally fell Red Bull Racing's way.
After two years in Formula 1, including a year and a half with Red Bull Racing, Albon was replaced by Sergio Perez at the end of 2020. The Thai driver was retained by the team and became a test driver. In the simulator, he made quite an impression on Red Bull and was an important link in the title fight.
Karma for Red Bull
For Albon too, the final minutes of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix were exciting. It was precisely in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi that he had put in more hours than would normally be the case, so there was a lot of time in it for him too. The man who got to climb the podium twice in 2020 was now screaming over the team radio for Verstappen when the latter won.
Despite all the hard work, however, Albon also saw that Verstappen did not have the strongest car in Abu Dhabi. Luck was on the Dutchman's side with the safety car and the fact that the lapped cars were still allowed to pass. Albon stated at Motorsport.com that many of the decisions this year have been against Verstappen. Although he does not want to sell Mercedes and Lewis short, he feels that his team got the karma they deserved in Abu Dhabi.