Drive to survive: How F1 driver Alexander Albon keeps afloat

Thai-British driver Alexander Albon, 26, has to constantly make complicated split-second decisions during a Formula 1 race. When milliseconds gained could translate into millions of dollars worth of prize money, being indecisive is extremely costly.

It is no wonder then that his career perspectives and decisions are shaped by swift yet effective calculations. Even when his F1 title aspirations were crushed by his demotion to a reserve driver at Red Bull Racing & Red Bull Technology in 2020, Albon quickly decided that it made no sense to dwell on his disappointment. 

“It is one of those situations where you have to look at things very simply. If I feel frustrated or disappointed, is it actually helping me to get back into F1? And obviously, the answer is no,” he said in an interview with LinkedIn News Asia. 

“There is no point in thinking about things negatively. The only thing which will get me back to F1 is to act and respond to anything I can… I never actually felt frustrated. It was almost like okay, what do I have to do next? How can I prove myself?”

There have been many lessons learnt from a promising, albeit slightly bumpy racing career so far. 

Albon secured two podium finishes over 1.5 seasons with Red Bull Racing. PHOTO: Getty Images

Albon had lived the dream just months into his F1 career – he was promoted to the Red Bull Racing team in August 2019, after shining at its sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 Team.

It looked like the perfect platform for Albon to kick off from. But the dream soured quickly as he struggled to finish on the podium despite having a competitive car.

After his demotion in late 2020, he spent the entirety of the next season watching from the sidelines as teammates Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez competed for honours.

“Obviously as a driver, you want to race, you always want to be behind the wheel. It’s very difficult mentally to watch other people driving,” said Albon.

Albon said previous challenges helped steel him for the latest disappointment. There were other points in his life where he ran out of money to compete and could not find opportunities to race, said Albon, but he eventually pulled through. 

He added: “I have been through (major setbacks) before, I have had that experience. I know what it feels like and the more times you go through it, the less worry you have.

“You feel like things will always work out and you will always find a way.”

DRIVE TO SURVIVE

Albon now drives for British team Williams Racing. He has secured a multi-year contract after a promising first season. PHOTO: Getty Images

Albon did find a way back to F1 for the 2022 season, as a replacement for George Russell at British team Williams Racing. In his first full season back in F1, he finished 19th out of 22 drivers in the driver standings, and scored 4 of William’s 8 points. While the season was not without challenges, he impressed enough to earn a new multi-year contract to race for Williams in 2023 and beyond.

The feat of just earning a new F1 contract is a hugely impressive one. As summarised succinctly by the title of the hit Netflix documentary series, drivers have to Drive to Survive. 

With only 20 drivers being able to compete per race for 10 teams in F1, teams are not short of talented drivers desperate for a chance to dance at the pinnacle of motor racing. In what has become a multi-billion dollar business, there is no room for sentiment. 

Drivers are cut when they don’t perform, as reflected recently by McLaren Racing terminating the contract of eight-time race winner Daniel Ricciardo in order to make space for promising starlet Oscar Piastri.

The F1 driver line-up for the 2022 season. The sport is notoriously competitive, with only 20 drivers getting the chance to compete per race for 10 teams. PHOTO: Getty Images

How do drivers cope with this pressure of possibly losing their jobs anytime?

Again, this boils down to a “very simple” calculation for Albon.

“Is worrying improving my performance? No. Is feeling pressure improving my performance? No. So why think of it and even allow your brain to go that way? You need to take that pressure away from yourself,” said Albon.

Albon said being relaxed yet confident in his abilities are other essential ingredients for him.

“I think the moment that you fear anything basically, especially when you’re driving a Formula 1 car, that is the very moment when your performance is worse and actually it’s more dangerous,” said Albon.

“That’s when you can start making mistakes because you don’t feel completely in control.”

TRAILBLAZER FOR ASIANS

In a traditionally Western-dominated sport, Albon is one of the three drivers on the grid who are Asians. PHOTO: Getty Images

Other than racing to win, Albon bears another heavy responsibility – to be a flagbearer for Asian drivers. Only three of the drivers on the grid are Asians – Albon, China’s Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen under Sauber Group) and Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda (Scuderia AlphaTauri F1 Team). 

Albon was born in London with a British father, and lived all his life in the UK. But his mother is from Thailand, and he races under the Thailand flag. He has acknowledged in previous interviews that being half-Thai has been massively important in securing sponsorship opportunities to let him be a professional racer.

But he recognises that many aspiring Asian drivers do not have the opportunity to race at a higher level owing to financial constraints.

“What happens is a lot of the Asian driver community can’t afford to fly out, race and live in Europe to hone their skills. So that’s really where the main priority is – to try and generate an easier way for Asians to have high levels of competition,” said Albon.

“I hope that I can play that part. I hope… that with Zhou and Yuki that we can improve things and do a better job.”

He added that it will take time for the situation to improve, but noted that there are promising young Asian drivers in the go-karting circuit now. He cited the example of 13-year-old Enzo Tarnvanichkul, a 13-year-old Thai teenager who won the FIA World Karting Championship in September for the 12-14 age group. 

BEST CAREER ADVICE

Being a people-pleaser had held his career back previously, says Albon. PHOTO: Getty Images

When asked about the best career advice he has received, Albon pauses for a moment.

“My best advice is something I don’t know if you could say, but it’s basically – don’t give a f**k,” said Albon. 

“At the end of the day, at least in my sport, you have to be selfish. You have to do what’s best for yourself.”

He said he had a problem with trying to keep everyone happy – he said yes to every request when he started off as a F1 driver. This ended up in him doing things which were draining too much energy from him.

“It was actually distracting me and not letting me focus on my performance, which is the one thing that really matters in my sport,” said Albon.

“By kind of having this mentality not to care and just to focus on what I felt was important – it was the way that I felt like I got the most out of myself.”

Reporting by: Ting Wei Toh