| Name | Alexander Albon Ansusinha |
| Date of Birth | 23 March 1996 |
| Place of Birth | London, England, United Kingdom |
| Age | 25 |
| Height | 1.86m |
| Weight | 73kg |
| Nationality | Thai |
| Car Number | 23 |
| First Entry | 2019 Australian Grand Prix |
Biography of F1 driver Alex Albon
The son of Nigel Albon, a former British racing driver who participated in the British Touring Car Championship and Porsche Carrera Cup, Alex began racing karts competitively in 2005. The following year, Albon won the Kartmasters British Grand Prix and Super 1 National Honda Cadet Championship, finishing second in the latter in 2007.
From 2008 to 2010, Albon competed in the KF3 class, winning numerous honours before graduating to KF1 in 2011.
Albon graduate to the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup series in 2012, driving for EPIC Racing, though he ended the year having failed to score a point. From there Albon joined KTR for the 2013 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season, ending the year with 22 points and later finishing third in the 2014 Drivers’ Championship with 117 points.
A year in European Formula 3 and, later, GP3 followed, with Albon winning four races and finishing runner-up to teammate Charles Leclerc in the latter in 2016.
Albon in Formula 2
Driving for ART, Albon competed in the 2017 Formula 2 Championship alongside then McLaren development driver Nobuharu Matsushita. Albon sat out the fourth round in Monaco after breaking his collarbone while mountain biking. He returned and finished second in the sprint race at the Red Bull Ring, and added another second-place finish at the season-ending sprint race at the Yas Marina Circuit. In the end, he finished the year 10th with 86 points.
Albon switched to DAMS and partnered Nicholas Latifi for the 2018 season, claiming his first F2 win in the feature race in Baku. After three consecutive retirements in Monaco and Paul Ricard, Albon got his campaign back on track by winning at Silverstone.
He added five more podiums at the remaining races, including wins at the Hungaroring and Sochi, ending the campaign third behind George Russell and Lando Norris.
Albon signs on with Toro Rosso
Originalyl slated to race for Nissan e.dams in the 2018/19 Formula E season, Albon was released from his contract and allowed to join Toro Rosso in F1.
The move restored Albon’s relationship with Red Bull, which ended seven years prior, and also made him the second Thai driver to compete in F1 after Prince Bira in 1954.
Albon scored his first F1 points at the Bahrain Grand Prix, finishing ninth, while his best qualifying result came in Britain when he started ninth.
Red Bull promote Albon
Albon didn’t end the year with Toro Rosso, taking over from Pierre Gasly at Red Bull after the Hungarian Grand Prix. He scored points in eight of the remaining nine races, including a then career-best fourth place finish in Japan.
Albon ended the year eighth with 92 points, earning Rookie of the Year honours at the FIA Prize Giving Ceremony.
Struggles at Red Bull and subsequent departure
Red Bull continued with Albon alongside Max Verstappen for the 2020 F1 season, with the Thai driver seemingly on course for a first career pole at the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix.
Unfortunately for Albon, an attempted overtake of Lewis Hamilton sent him into the gravel, before he later retired with an electrical failure.
While Verstappen regularly challenged for podiums, Albon failed to get the same performance out of the Red Bull RB16. A heavy crash during practice for the British Grand Prix derailed his weekend, with Albon later picking up a penalty in the race after causing a collision with Kevin Magnussen.
Damage from a collision and a time penalty saw him finish 15th at Monza, though he did take a maiden podium by finishing third at the Tuscan Grand Prix.
A run of four consecutive races outside the points added additional pressure to Albon, though he closed out the year with four top 10 finishes, including a second career podium after Sergio Perez retired from third.
In the end, Albon’s tally of 105 points was well behind that of Verstappen, who finished third with 214, wasn’t enough to keep his seat at the team.
Demotion and F1 return
Albon was demoted to test and reserve driver for Red Bull in 2021, while also competing in 14 of the 16 races of the 2021 Deutsche Tourwagen Masters.
Driving for Italian team AF Corse, Albon became the first Thai driver to win in the series when he took the chequered flag at Nurburgring.
His stint outside of F1 didn’t last long, as Williams announced in September 2021 that Albon would partner Nicholas Latifi for the 2022 season. Following the announcement, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner stated that Albon is still linked to the team, and that they have an option to recall him for 2023.
