Pain clear for Albon: "You can't compare those cars"

Alexander Albon is under fire at Red Bull Racing. The Thai has made little impression as a teammate for Max Verstappen in a year and a half and doesn't seem good enough. Christijan Albers explains why.

Albon is not fast enough

In 2019 Alexander Albon had the chance of a lifetime with a promotion to Red Bull Racing. The Thai had just six months of Formula 1 experience with Toro Rosso and had to replace Pierre Gasly as teammate of Verstappen. However, this turned out to be no easy task, because just like Gasly, Albon is struggling with this assignment.

"I'm not attacking him personally, but he's not fast enough. When people shout that, it often remains that way, but the problem goes much further than that. Not only does he come up short when it comes to times when compared to Verstappen, but his driving style is also very different. You can hardly compare Red Bull's two cars with each other," Albers says in his column for De Telegraaf.

Ideal situation at Mercedes

Albers explains how these differences arise. "Sit yourself down in a car, which is adjusted for someone who is two meters long, while you yourself are about 1.70 meters long. Well, then drive around relaxed and take some sharp bends. You can't do that." 

According to Albers, that's why things are going so well at Mercedes.

"That's why Mercedes has much more to Lewis Hamilton with Valtteri Bottas on his side because they are closer together. A good driver beside you is essential to improve the car over the weekend. Even if it's only a tenth of a second, that cares so much in this sport," concludes the former F1 driver.