Lando Norris, the 21 years old British Formula One driver, said he is sorry for his fellow Formula Two graduate Alexander Albon. The McLaren driver said he feels “a bit sorry” for the British-Thai driver as he is left out for the 2021 Formula One season. Lando also said how Formula One can be “a cruel world sometimes”.
Alex Albon’s Formula story
Lando Norris and Alexander Albon both graduated from Formula Two at the end of the 2018 season. Norris and Albon then joined McLaren and Toro Rosso respectively to debut in Formula One circuit.
After just 12 races in 2019 season, the British-Thai driver got a promotion for his performance. Albon was promoted from Toro Rosso to Red Bull’s senior Formula One squad subsequently. Albon thereafter replaced Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly.
Super proud to announce I’m a Red Bull driver for 2020. It’s been an incredible 12 months, and it only gets crazier. Thank you to @redbullracing for putting their trust in me. This is an amazing opportunity and I can’t wait for 2020! But now to finish 2019 strong 😤 pic.twitter.com/X7ZBsAL3g8
— Alex Albon (@alex_albon) November 12, 2019
However, the former Red Bull driver was dropped at the end of last year. Albon found it hard to match his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen’s form and as a result, was demoted.
Lando Norris: “I’m good friends with Alex”
The 21-years-old found it hard to see such a skillful driver on the sidelines. He did not talk to Albon as yet. Talking on the former Red Bull driver, Lando conveyed, “I’m good friends with Alex, we get along very well and we have good chats and so on,” Norris said. I’ve not really spoken to him that much about what’s been going on or things like that.”
Alexander Albon of Thailand and Scuderia Toro Rosso and Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren F1 walk in the Paddock before the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco at Circuit de Monaco on May 26, 2019 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco.
“I guess I feel a bit sorry, because I know he’s a very good driver, and it’s tough. It just highlights really how tough Formula One is. You can be an extremely good driver and beat almost everyone that you’ve ever raced against in all the categories, but you get to Formula 1 and it becomes that little bit more competitive. It’s a cruel world sometimes, and it can be over almost as quickly as it started.” Norris asserted in an interview.
Alex Albon’s situation post Red Bull senior squad demotion
The 24 years old British-Thai driver was replaced by Sergio Perez at Red Bull’s Formula One team for 2021. Albon remains contracted to the energy drinks brand as a reserve driver nevertheless.
Car-nage at the start 😱👀@alex_albon had a front row seat 🍿#VirtualGP 🎮 #F1 pic.twitter.com/6kLeMNVrVK
— Formula 1 (@F1) January 31, 2021
Adding on, Albon will be with Red Bull as a simulator worker and his position as a reserve for Perez and Verstappen. Red Bull announced he will race in the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters), Germany’s top-level touring car series, at select rounds this season.
“The DTM with a high-class field and GT3 sports cars is an interesting plarform and a real challenge, both for successful race drivers like Alex Albon as for our Red Bull junior driver Liam Lawson,” Red Bull’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko said.
The 2021 Formula One season starts with Bahrain Grand Prix on March 28.
