Albon impresses Red Bull management: "Pretty impressed"

Alexander Albon is defending the Williams colours this season and although he is not on loan to the Grove-based team for a single season, Red Bull Racing does have options in their contract that allow them to bring the British Thai back. Christian Horner says he is keeping a close eye on Albon's performance.

George Russell left Williams after last season and after an extensive search, including the name of Dutchman Nyck de Vries, Jost Capito's team chose to sign Albon. The 26-year-old driver had just spent a year as a test and reserve driver at Red Bull, but from the first moment, there seemed little to be sign of that in 2022. From the first minute, he was faster than teammate Nicholas Latifi, despite the Canadian being with the team for longer.

In the qualifying duel, Albon clearly showed he has more speed than Latifi (10-2) and he is also doing better on Sunday. In Australia and Miami he scored points, something Latifi (as the only driver on the current F1 grid) has yet to do. Albon is impressing with his consistent driving, which has not gone unnoticed by Red Bull.

Horner follows Albon closely

Christian Horner is asked by The Paddock Magazine if he is keeping an eye on Albon, he replies: "Of course! Alex is a skilled driver, and he is doing a decent job. Personally, I’m pretty impressed with his performance this year." So Horner and Helmut Marko may choose to cut Albon loose, although of course, we don't know the contractual terms of that.

At AlphaTauri, Yuki Tsunoda is having a difficult time. The Japanese driver is often unable to stay clear for a whole weekend. He is not yet sure of his seat for 2023, so he will need to improve before AlphaTauri can consider Albon's return. The Faenza-based outfit also has Jehan Daruvala and Liam Lawson from Formula 2 as options.