Albon sees Hamilton as an example: "Someone to look up to"

Alexander Albon was on the podium in Mugello for the first time in F1 when he finished third behind Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. The Thai driver had been close to the podium before, but contact with Lewis Hamilton in Brazil 2019 and Austria 2020 cost him that champagne moment.

Despite this, the Red Bull Racing driver has a lot of respect for Hamilton, also because of the British fight for equality. “With everything he was someone to look up to when I was growing up, as I’m sure a lot of drivers my age did,” Albon explains in Red Bull's press meeting.

Hamilton is very much in favour of greater equality, while Albon is still in the background. The Thai, however, indicates that he has also been given opportunities because of his other nationality. “Truthfully, on my side the ethnicity, I also saw it as a way to stand out.” Albon therefore thinks he has made it through the junior Formula’s faster.

“It was also a way, even for myself, to get me through the junior Formulae.” Albon has therefore not suffered enormous disadvantages due to its different ethnicity, compared to many drivers in F1 and other classes. “I was always backed through Thailand and I’ve always had that opportunity,” Albon concludes.