Sky F1’s Martin Brundle believes that Red Bull’s top brass is likely wishing the team still had Alex Albon under contract given the remarkable performances produced this season by the Williams driver.
Albon has single handedly upheld his team’s seventh-place position in F1’s Constructors’ standings, with the 27-year-old scoring 25 of the Grove-based outfit’s 26 points.
Albon was promoted to Formula 1 in 2019 with Toro Rosso and rewarded for his strong results with a mid-season switch to Red Bull Racing.
However, he was comprehensively outpaced by Max Verstappen during his full season with the team in 2020. Coupled with a lack of consistency, his results compelled Helmut Marko and Christan Horner to send Albon to the sidelines for 2021 and to replace him with Sergio Perez.
He returned to the grid in 2022 with Williams, but in hindsight he would have perhaps been the ideal candidate to take over from Perez who has yet to convincingly emerge from a rut that he hit last spring in Monaco.
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But Red Bull’s pain has been Williams’ gain suggest Brundle.
“He’s settled there [at Williams] and he feels comfortable,” commented the Sky F1 pundit at the Mexican GP after Friday’s FP2, which Albon finished in second position, a feat he repeated on Saturday in FP3.
"It’s the stick and the carrot – some drivers do need an arm round their shoulder and reassurance and to be listened to carefully and to feel they’re valued within a team.
"I bet Red Bull wish they still had access to him."
Red Bull’s Horner has repeatedly said that Perez’s seat for 2024 is safe. But Brundle believes the Mexican’s future is still at risk and will remain in jeopardy if he fails to improve his form in the final races of this season.
"Red Bull can't take a passenger into 2024 if he is not on form, and I can't imagine that Sergio would want to drive it either, to be honest [if that was the case],” Brundle added.
"So, these next few races are critical for his head and for Red Bull to be satisfied that he's just not lost his way and he can do this.
"Sergio Perez and Red Bull want exactly the same thing – they want him to re-find his form. And, if he can't beat Max, at least deliver some second places and grab second in the world championship."
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