Albon opens up on why he nearly left racing

Toro Rosso's new recruit admits that he was close to quitting racing. 

In 2012 Alexander Albon's racing future took a drastic turn for the worse as he lost his place in the Red Bull junior driver scheme. He admitted that this made him consider whether he had a future in racing at all. 

"It was a difficult year for me for numerous reasons, not least because of my results, but it made me work that much harder,” Albon told Red Bull.

“I was on the brink of stopping racing altogether. Since then, I knew I had to impress every time I drove and fortunately Dr Marko gave me a second chance.

“I never gave up on it, I needed to believe that it could still happen. Having said that, I knew that my chance of going to F1 was very slim as I didn't have a proper budget."

Albon is the only driver in the 2019 line up not to have experienced Formula 1 machinery but is still confident that he can perform to a high standard. 

“I won't have many days in the car before Melbourne, so it will be very important to be as prepared as possible and take each race as it comes. Of course, it would be nice to fight regularly for points."