Albon to focus on gaining car knowledge during pre-season testing

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Alex Albon says he'll be digging deep during pre-season testing to learn as much as possible about his new car ahead of Aston Martin Red Bull's 2020 campaign.

Albon's mid-season switch from Toro Rosso to Red Bull Racing boosted the British-Thai's position in the running order.

The 23-year-old scored points in every race in the second party of the season bar the Brazilian Grand Prix, where a clash with Lewis Hamilton on the penultimate lap of the race robbed him of a probable top-four finish.

However, Albon's mid-year transfer to the Milton Keynes-based outfit left him little time to really familiarize himself with his car, with race weekends thereafter providing almost no opportunities for him to experiment with set-ups.

Albon is determined to 'mix it at the front' in 2020

The Red Bull charger is determined to probe deep into his RB16 during the six days of winter testing scheduled in Barcelona in February.

"You can't change that much [on a race weekend], because you can't risk just going crazy with it," Albon told Motorsport.com.

"But I think already, the team really understands kind of what I want in the car.

"That's really where we can really start to focus. At testing the atmosphere is obviously a little bit different.

"You have better comparisons, not like in FP1 and FP2 when you've got four hours in between a session and things like that."

While testing will indeed offer more space for experimentation, this year's schedule has been cut from eight to six days of running - split across two tests - at the Circuit de Catalunya, so the clock will be ticking.

"It's a very important time where you have to really focus on your time, on your scheduling and making sure you're getting the most out of it," he said.

"Because even if we say it's time to learn and time to experiment, we've only got three days for testing before we get to Melbourne.

"It's still limited, but of course, it's better than nothing."

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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.