The current Williams driver, Alex Albon spent a very short time at Red Bull between 2019-2021. It was presumed that the driver faced the repercussions of being the teammate of the reigning World Champion Max Verstappen. The ‘second seat curse‘ at Red Bull is often discussed and it has been the grist of the gossip mill among various drivers.
It was difficult for the drivers that followed Daniel Ricciardo, like Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon, to keep up with the demands of the machine. Pierre Gasly took Ricciardo’s position fast, but he was unsuccessful in making the elusive connection with the car. In a similar vein, Albon assumed control following Gasly, but the conflict persisted.
“Were you enjoying being a Red Bull driver?”
“Not at all. No. I was struggling I think, I was struggling with the attention around it. I deleted all my socials. It was very toxic, the mocking, the quotes, the becoming a laughing joke, a meme.”
Oh Alex🥹💔 pic.twitter.com/odSDSbJ6wL
— leo🐋 (@formuleo_) November 23, 2023
Not even Sergio Perez, who at first seemed to be stabilizing the number-two spot, was able to produce memorable performances. However, recently, the Thai-British driver spoke about his experience within the Milton Keynes-based team on the High-Performance Podcast.
He said, “Not at all. No. I was struggling I think, I was struggling with the attention around it. I deleted all my socials. It was very toxic, the mocking, the quotes, the becoming a laughing joke, a meme.” Since joining Williams, Albon has continuously put in outstanding performances that contributed to the team’s rankings in the Constructors’ Championship.
The secret behind the success of Red Bull has been revealed
Adrian Newey, the chief technical officer of Red Bull, recently disclosed something surprising behind the team’s successful season. Interestingly, the Milton Keynes-based team won 20 of the 21 races they competed in, earning their sixth constructors’ championship ever since they started appearing in races in 2005. Max Verstappen and the team had an incredible season, winning his third consecutive championship and finishing with the best victory in Formula 1 ever.
Places to go, people to see, things to do… #AbuDhabiGP || @F1 pic.twitter.com/aIsAxa8RnL
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) November 24, 2023
The officer stated, “Fully expected this year that everything would close up. We managed to get the fundamentals of the car right. The good thing about that was it allowed us to take an evolutionary approach, to understand the strengths and weaknesses of last year’s car and try to address that appropriately. We have managed to read regulations changes well and come back with a car we can then evolve.”
Newey pointed out that the cars’ weight was a major contributory factor to their domination. New technical rules were implemented by Formula 1 in 2022, which resulted in several cars being overweight. In spite of this challenge, Red Bull was able to lose the extra weight while the car was being developed.
Regardless, the Milton Keynes-based team and the Dutch driver have had one of the most phenomenal seasons during their time in the sport.