Albon still "getting to know the car"

Alexander Albon was the final driver to sign for next year’s F1 season, completing the grid when he signed for Toro Rosso, and he reveals that the biggest challenge for him will be getting “up to speed immediately”.

The English born Thai driver had to be bought out of a Formula E contract, given how late he was called up to the Red Bull junior team to partner Daniil Kvyat.

Albon finished third in Formula 2 last season, meaning the top three from the series were promoted to F1, George Russell and Lando Norris are at Williams and McLaren respectively.

He hasn’t driven a Formula 1 car in his career yet, so getting to a competitive level could be difficult.

He told Dutch publication Formule E: “I have four days to test in Barcelona and I haven’t driven a Formula One car before.

“That’s not a lot of time before Melbourne and these cars are of course very different to Formula 2 — they’re a lot faster.

“So it’s mainly an issue of getting to know the car and trying to be fast.”

Albon will be partnering the returning Daniil Kvyat, in what could be by far the most unpredictable driver line up of 2019.