Albon looks back: "That was one of the darkest moments of my days"

Red Bull Racing dropped support from Alexander Albon in 2012 due to poor performance. With the disappearance of such support the future looks a lot less bright, but he seized the opportunity he got at Torro Rosso right away. Less than six months later he was able to join Red Bull Racing. A lightning career in Formula 1, but the driver doesn't feel much pressure.

I survived

Pierre Gasly had to make way for Alexander Albon after the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2019. The Frenchman barely came close to Max Verstappen, made costly mistakes and missed out on points. Alexander Albon got his chance and the minimum requirement was better than Gasly's performance. Something that succeeded.

When Albon looks back to 2012 on the Formula 1 website, he says the loss of the Red Bull support was difficult. It was "one of my darkest moments of my days". However, that has given him strength, because that experience makes him feel that he has already reached the low point in the past.

"That gave me a feeling that I’ve been through the worst and I’m always able to come out the other side. There’s a sense that I don’t feel too much pressure, because I feel I survived that, I can survive other things", the driver says.

No regrets

That experience weighs heavily in how Albon looks at things and how he experiences them. It contributes to his life experience and also enables him to put things into perspective. In a certain sense, that setback in 2012 may have been a good thing, as it helps him now.

Albon: "I carry that with me, with a lot of things that I go to. Even the call up from Toro Rosso to Red Bull, there’s a sense of, if it doesn’t work out, so what? There are no regrets. You’ve done it before, you’ve pulled it through so why can’t you do it again? It’s made me a lot stronger.”