Albon eager for first taste of Interlagos

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Red Bull's rookie driver Alexander Albon admits that he's looking forward to getting his first opportunity to race at one of Formula 1's most historic and iconic circuits - Interlagos.

"Interlagos has a lot of history and it’s one of the circuits I’ve been looking forward to most this year to drive," the Thai driver said this week ahead og the Brazilian Grand Prix.

"It’s a drivers' track, which takes you back to the old school of racing which I enjoy.

"Obviously I’ve never been before, but from what I understand the weather is always going to be tricky there which always makes for an exciting weekend.”

Horner praises 'Driver of the Day' Albon for strong recovery

Albon was widely praised for his comeback drive to fifth place last weekend in Austin, after falling foul of a congested field heading through turn 1 at the Circuit of the Americas.

As a result of his battling performances behind the wheel, Albon now appears to be odds-on favourite to hold on to the Red Bull seat in 2020 - provided nothing silly happens in the final two races of the season in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

However Albon admitted last week that he still wasn't sure about his status with the team next year.

"It would be nice to have an answer but I'm not too worried about it," he told Sky Sports F1. "I'm still feeling comfortable enough to know that I will still be in F1 next year so we'll see how it goes."

Albon was unexpectedly promoted from the Toro Rosso junior team to the senior Red Bull line-up alongside Max Verstappen over the summer. He has flourished ever since and denied he's feeling any extra pressure.

"I've been given a chance this year and, at the same time, I've got a very good team-mate to learn from," he said. "I'm trying to enjoy the process, my life here, as I know it won't last forever.

"The pressure comes from myself. To be up against one of the quickest, if not the quickest driver in Formula 1 right now, it's never easy. The way I see it, it's more of an opportunity."

Albon has also recently had the thumbs-up from newly-crowned six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who predicted "a bright future ahead of him."

Albon had been delighted to hear Hamilton's comments. "It was very kind of him." he acknowledged.

"He is someone I think that all of us, especially people my age, have looked up to when we were going through our ranks," the 23-year-old added. "For Lewis to say that was very nice."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.