Alex Albon discussed his tenure alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull, reflecting on his experience and shedding light on the distinctive traits defining the reigning triple world champion’s driving style.
Albon served as Verstappen’s teammate for one-and-a-half seasons, joining mid-2019 from Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri) and continuing through 2020. Despite this tenure, he struggled to match Verstappen’s pace and consistency, leading to his demotion to a reserve driver role in 2021. This prompted Albon to seek opportunities elsewhere in Formula 1.
During an interview on the High Performance Podcast with former BBC F1 presenter Jake Humphrey, now as a driver for Williams, Albon delved into his time at Red Bull, emphasizing what sets Verstappen apart.
He mentioned, “Many describe the car as tailored to Verstappen, reminiscent of Michael Schumacher’s influence on Ferrari, essentially crafting the team around him,” as he dissected the experience of being Verstappen’s teammate.
“Truly, the automobile is what it is, and he is very fast, so what ends up happening is… He has a distinct driving style that is difficult to accept.
“Each driver possesses a distinct driving style; personally, I tend toward a smoother approach. However, I prefer a car with a responsive front-end—precise and direct. Max shares this preference, but his level of sharpness and directness is on a completely different scale—it’s remarkably sharp. To offer an analogy, imagine maxing out sensitivity settings in a computer game; the mouse darts across the screen uncontrollably. That’s akin to the feeling—the sharpness becomes so intense that it induces a degree of tension.”
Albon proceeded to elaborate that throughout a season, with ongoing car developments, there’s a cumulative effect that intensifies the pressure on the driver in the secondary car alongside Verstappen.
“During my time, what transpired was, initially, I was slightly trailing, not by a significant margin. However, as the season progressed, Max sought an increasingly sharper front-end in the car. This continual pursuit of sharpness created what I’d call a ‘snowball effect,’ heightening the demands and pressure on the driver in the car paired with him.”
“As the car becomes progressively sharper, Max’s pace accelerates accordingly. To catch up, you’re compelled to take more risks. Perhaps you’re a couple of tenths behind in a session, and you push a bit harder, but it ends up in a mistake—a spin or even a crash—forcing you to reset.
Consequently, confidence takes a hit, requiring more time to rebuild, allowing the gap to widen. Each attempt to bridge the gap may result in further setbacks like spins or errors, intensifying the situation. With every iteration of the car becoming sharper, the tension amplifies.
In any sport, when you’re no longer in that state of flow, when you have to consciously think about every move and lack the assurance of how the car will respond in each corner, that natural rhythm dissipates. It’s solely about the confidence in the car and finding that flow. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work when you’re out of sync like that.”
Following their time as teammates, Verstappen secured three consecutive F1 world titles, triumphing over Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in 2021 and dominating the championships in 2022 and 2023. Meanwhile, Albon has revitalized his career at Williams, contributing to the team’s achievement of finishing seventh in the constructors’ standings for the current year.
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