Albon eager to understand how his “amazing” Red Bull improved

2020 70th Anniversary Grand Prix

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Alexander Albon was encouraged by the progress he and Red Bull made at Silverstone after finishing fifth in yesterday’s race.

“The car was really, really good,” said Albon, whose race was compromised by an early first pit stop which left him in heavy traffic.

“I was struggling a lot at the start to get past but once we got into the rhythm at the end and had our time to attack and overtake people one by one, the pace was there,” he said.

“The car was amazing today. Honestly, we need to understand why it was so good on Sunday and not Saturday.”

Albon started the race from ninth place. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes the team need to improve the handling of their car on low fuel to help him find the pace in qualifying to match his performances in the race.

“Alex doesn’t have quiet Sundays at the moment,” he said. “His racing has been superb – and some of the passes he made today around the outside of Copse and throughout sectors one and two, because we weren’t really quick enough at the end of the straight to get the job done. I thought he drove a very, very good grand prix.

“So I think as soon as the car becomes more and more drive-able on on a Saturday and we start qualifying better… imagine if Alex had started in fourth or fifth with the pace that he had in the race. And I’m sure that will come for him, I’ve got no doubts about that.”

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26 comments on “Albon eager to understand how his “amazing” Red Bull improved”

  1. Qualifying higher is indeed the key in this case. He needs to start qualifying in the top-five more regularly so that he doesn’t have to be in traffic, and as a result, overtake as much in general.

  2. Adam (@rocketpanda)
    10th August 2020, 18:54

    His overtaking and race pace is excellent but his qualifying is awful. That’s all he needs to fix. Horner’s right, if he finds that one lap pace and can start up at the front he’s clearly got the skills to stay there and fight. Until then I suppose he makes the races quite fun.

    1. His overtaking and race pace is excellent but his qualifying is awful.

      I really enjoyed all of Albon’s overtakes; quite special.

      1. @rocketpanda But perhaps it is not ‘his’ qualifying that is as awful as it appears, with Horner now mentioning their car’s low fuel handling. And let’s recall Max hasn’t been able to touch the Mercs in quali either so he is also suffering a car that handles less well on low fuel. Anyhoo, really happy AA had such a positive day and to hear Horner once again confirm his confidence in him.

        1. Adam (@rocketpanda)
          10th August 2020, 23:45

          Nah when I say awful I’m meaning in comparison to his team-mate. While I think his one lap pace has been generally closer to Verstappen than Gasly was, it’s still a good 2-3 tenths away and given the tightness of the midfield he ends up getting booped down out of the top 10 too often. If he could just close that gap ever so slightly and start comprehensively in the top 5 more often – which that car can certainly do he’d probably be getting bigger points hauls for his race pace skills. Ideally I’d like to see him on the pace if not better than Verstappen, but one step at a time.

        2. Max told the media that even getting p3 was going to be hard (for him) This before qualifly.
          Max was happy he was P4 as the reds were dropping off in the last part (where Red Bull made the most time compared with the midfield) of the round.

      2. He may be over thinking qually. Too much data. In race he’s focused on best racing line and traffic while letting his instincts make the decisions. Data is great but can only adjust one thing at a time. He should do 2 qualifying laps with the 1st as setup for 2nd. Tire deg or track condition over 1 lap isn’t going to be a big factor for him right now. He needs to just drive then see where he can make a small change, then drive, repeat.

    2. Gasly used to get stuck, at least Albon goes for it.
      remarkable to see how little the rb changed from last season, they just added a merc style nose.

  3. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
    10th August 2020, 19:18

    Red Bull need Gazly in qualifying and Albon to race from Galsy’s qualifying position then they may be better off. They sort of have opposite weaknesses. I don’t think gasly was that weak in qualifying – certainly not this year. But Albon is terrible. Albon’s race pace usually looks reasonable if we forget Verstappen is his team mate and his racecraft is pretty good too. I think his incident last weekend was just a racing incident and hamilton was to blame for the previous two.

    But he really has got to work on qualifying or hard to over take tracks will be very costly for him.

  4. The car was amazing today. Honestly, we need to understand why it was so good on Sunday and not Saturday.”

    Good to see he seems to develop some trust in his car. That will pay off at qualification.
    It also shows there is no difference between the two cars as some her seem to think. Its just a matter of self confidence using a trickier car.

  5. Nice to see someone praising the car performance rather than the opposite.
    The bonus is ours in entertainment and also his, in race-craft development. Another Daniel R. in the making.

  6. Good to see Albon getting public support from Christian Horner. Max is so clearly the lead driver at Red Bull at the moment, that it’d be too easy to compare Albon to Max and start talking him down. He needs time and things will turn for him.

    1. Yeah, it was nice to see and good for Albon.

      1. geoffgroom44 (@)
        11th August 2020, 13:48

        agreed

  7. Albon is in intresting space. He’s kinda like Vettel, qualifies just a little slower than #1 in the team, and is left so far in the midfield, that his races are destroyed by default.

    He is quite reliable in wheel to wheel, but ultimately he is salvaging his every race. Meanwhile Verstappen was up in front dispatching Hulkenberg right away and outpacing Mercedes to the end.

    So either Albon is slow or Verstappen is that good, or a little bit of both.

    I still think Red Bull need a faster #2, but there are not many of those around.

    1. geoffgroom44 (@)
      11th August 2020, 13:47

      so what is a faster #2 ? someone who beats Max’s times? You know.like Alex did with fastest laps in the F170 race (around laps 38 onwards) …that’s fastest lap, until Lewis went on new tyres and a charge.
      Car performance scores-high speed corner: 1. Lewis 2.Valteri, 3……? yes, Albon, followed by LeClerc and Hulkenberg, well these were the stats of F1 TV.
      so, where is this faster #2 that you want?
      and how are his races destroyed by default when he charges from the rear to 5th place?
      Austria:DNFm Stira 4th, Hungary 5th, UK 8th, UKF170 5th
      and the best is yet to come :-)

  8. It’s easy to look good in the race when you’re passing people you really should have out-qualified…

    1. geoffgroom44 (@)
      11th August 2020, 13:47

      yep,correct.It’s just so easy to pass others in an F1 race.Duh!

      1. geoffgroom44 (@)
        11th August 2020, 13:49

        and some of those ‘easy’ overtakes had commentators praising his skills and courage. But,hey, don’t let those things influence your opinion :-)

        1. He still put himself in that position through awful qualifying performances, that’s a fact. Not hard to overtake most cars when you’re in the 2nd best car on the grid every race. They were good overtakes yes but when you’re in a car that’s half a second to a second a lap quicker it’s to be expected.

          I can’t believe I’m saying this but I think Gasly would actually be the better bet at the moment, at least he’d qualify fourth and bring the car home in that position 30s behind Max each race.

          1. geoffgroom44 (@)
            11th August 2020, 16:45

            Pierre gasly: 52 F1 races…Alex Albon: 26 F1 races. I seem to detect a slight difference in F1 experience in these figures,huh?

          2. Not really, quality in good cars is often shown immediately and certainly within half a season in a top car. See Verstappen’s first Red Bull race, Hamilton’s first ever F1 race. Funny how Norris is actually ahead in the standings with less experience, a car that’s quite a bit slower and yet he’s out qualified Albon most races. Experience is nothing to do with his pace, it’s skill or a lack thereof that’s the issue.

  9. Lol looks like red bull were realizing people were starting to put things together so they increased the speed on the number 2 car

    1. geoffgroom44 (@)
      11th August 2020, 16:47

      good point,maybe.

    2. Hahaha, some hard years ahead of you ;)

  10. I was struggling a lot at the start to get past but once we got into the rhythm at…

    The issue may not be so much the low fuel handling. Sounds like he can’t get into a proper rhythm in quali as he’s only doing a few laps at a time. Maybe they should waste a set of medium or hard compound tires in Q1 and let him put in 10 or 20 laps to get into his driving groove, then worry about setting times.

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