Alexander Albon can easily relate to Visa RB driver Liam Lawson. The British-Thai driver previously raced for Red Bull’s junior team before replacing Pierre Gasly at the top team in 2019. The Williams driver, therefore, understands Lawson’s ambition, although he questions whether the New Zealander would want Max Verstappen as a teammate so early in his Formula 1 career.
Albon was Max Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull in 2019 and 2020, and is familiar with the Austrian team’s way of working. This allows the British-Thai driver to empathize with Liam Lawson. The New Zealand driver is currently being mentioned as a potential replacement for the struggling Sergio Pérez. Albon replaced Pierre Gasly in a similar fashion in 2019.
“I think Liam is in a very good situation,” Albon tells the press in São Paulo. “In the worst-case scenario, he is still in an RB.” However, the Williams driver questions the idea of Lawson becoming Verstappen’s new teammate soon. “I also wonder if you (as Lawson) would want a seat at the Red Bull team itself, next to Max, so soon. In my experience, it’s not a bad idea to spend a few more years honing your craft.
“Of course, if there’s an opportunity, you have to seize it,” continues Alexander Albon, who has also noticed the internal competition among the drivers of Red Bull’s sister team, Visa RB. Yuki Tsunoda, Lawson’s teammate, is also a contender for Pérez’s Red Bull seat. “There’s clearly some pressure among the RB drivers to secure that seat. You can feel it, and I see it in the races. But that’s just the game. Two hungry drivers vying for a seat in a top team.”
‘I wouldn’t have done it myself’
Lawson, for one, has already taken on Pérez on the track. The two drivers encountered each other several times during the Mexican Grand Prix, and Lawson even gave Pérez the middle finger.
“I don’t think that was pressure, but frustration towards another driver,” is Albon’s analysis of the moment between the two Red Bull rivals. “I wouldn’t have done it myself, especially not in Mexico, during Pérez’s home race. We’re just drivers, and we’re all hungry.”
