Albon lights up the streets of Sao Paulo at Gulf Speed Festival

40

While most of his F1 colleagues are kicking back and enjoying the autumn break, Alex Albon found himself hard at work—if you can call doing donuts in downtown São Paulo “work.”

The Williams charger to the streets of São Paulo on Monday as part the Gulf Speed Festival, celebrating Gulf Oil’s first anniversary in Brazil and its second year of partnership with the Grove-based squad.

As part of the festivities, Albon treated thousands of local fans to a demo run, with the FW45 sporting the striking ‘Bolder than Bold’ livery previously seen at last year’s Singapore, Japanese, and Qatar Grands Prix.

“It’s nice to be able to do stuff outside of being on a race track and more focused on engaging with the fans,” commented Albon ahead of his demo run.

“At the same time, in terms of doing donuts and burnouts and all this kind of stuff, weirdly or not, we don't actually practice it that much! So it takes a little bit of learning to get used to it.

“It’s just nice, nice to be in Brazil, in a country where Formula 1 and motorsport is huge, so it's great to be able to do that with Gulf.”

Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.