Alex Albon feels he was “totally unprepared” before stepping up to an F1 race seat with Red Bull in 2019

Alex Albon was promoted to Red Bull from Toro Rosso (now Alpha Tauri) after only twelve races with the sister team in his F1 debut year in 2019.

Pierre Gasly had been struggling to deliver at a level even close to that of team-mate Max Verstappen after the departure of Daniel Ricciardo from the team at the end of 2018. Albon recently revealed he was absolutely unprepared to take up the responsibility of driving for Red Bull given his lack of experience in the sport as well as the sudden change in plans.

Albon, unlike most drivers, had no testing before arriving for the first day of winter testing in Barcelona since his plans to drive with Nissan in Formula E were replaced at the very last minute after a call from Red Bull bosses.

Albon reflected on the process in the Motor Sport Magazine Podcast:

"I was one of the most unprepared drivers, I think, ever to get into F1. Because I think everyone’s done testing before they arrive into F1, but my first test was literally the day one of Barcelona winter testing, and that was it. And I spun! I spun straightaway. I spun in Turn 4. And I was like, ‘Oh my God, what have I got myself into?'”

Not only was Albon less prepared to enter F1, he had even less time to adjust to a team that was fighting for wins. While the Briton had a decent run in 2020 and continued with the team for the next year, he was replaced by Sergio Perez for the 2021 season and will now make his return to the sport with Williams to partner Nicolas Latifi.

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Pierre Gasly's hope for Red Bull seat still remain strong

Pierre Gasly had a disappointing start to the 2019 season after his promotion to Red Bull from Toro Rosso. However, ever since the 25-year-old moved back to his original team, he has been absolutely unstoppable and proven himself to be a real contender for the title, given a car that has the potential to take him to the top.

As reported by The Race, the Frenchman commented on his future with Red Bull:

"We’ll have to see what the view of Red Bull is over the next few years because now it’s been eight years I’ve been with them. It’s a long time and obviously, at the moment they have a very competitive car.”

He added:

“I’m still very young, I’m 25, but my goal is to be in the first seat once these guys [top teams] are going to look at who can be a replacement.”

Given that the contracts of both Sergio Perez and Pierre Gasly are set to expire at the end of the 2022 season, the upcoming year will prove crucial to both drivers who are hungry for the prestigious seat.