Alex Albon describes his difficulties with Max Verstappen’s “unique” driving technique

Alex Albon extensively opened up during an interview conducted by the podcast “High Performance.” When discussing his stint with Red Bull (2019-2020), inevitably Max Verstappen resurfaced in the conversation. And when asked by the host, “What is it like being Max Verstappen’s teammate? How would you describe him?” Alex Albon explained what he had observed from the other side of the garage.

« First, many people say that the car is built for him, he’s a bit like Michael Schumacher at Ferrari. He has created this team around him, but the truth is that the car is what it is. He is very fast, and he has a unique driving style, it’s not so easy to adapt to it. Everyone has their own driving style, my driving style is rather gentle. But I like to have a car with a good front end: quite nimble, direct. Max as well, but his level of sensitivity and sharpness regarding the front end is on a whole other level.

»

He then made a comparison with video games, with the joystick on game controllers: « It’s like turning the sensitivity up to the maximum, moving the mouse, and having it move all over the screen. It’s a bit like what you feel, it becomes so fast that you become tense. »

The tension, the key factor that gives Max Verstappen the advantage.

For a reminder, Alex Albon joined the Austrian team during the 2019 season as a replacement for Pierre Gasly, and was dismissed at the end of the following season in December 2020. He finished 7th in the championship with two podiums, while the Dutchman finished 3rd in the driver standings with 11 podiums and 2 wins. In terms of points, Max Verstappen had more than double the points of Alex Albon at the end (214 compared to 105). This assessment is already known, but the Thai driver explains the reasons for such a gap according to him:

« What ended up happening, especially during my year (at Red Bull), is that you start off being slightly less fast but not by much. And then as the season progresses and Max wants the front end to be sharper and it becomes sharper, Max gets faster and faster.

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A frantic race to make up for lost time: a vicious circle.

To catch up on your delay, you must take a little more risk. And when you know that you only have a few attempts left before the final session, you try a little harder and there: « okay, I went out, I crashed. » So you have to start over, you have lost some confidence and it takes a little more time. The gap widens a bit and then the next time you try to go out, you will spin out again. And it starts to have a « snowball effect » and each time the car becomes livelier, you start to get more tense. »

I think it’s like in any sport, if you start to no longer be in your comfort zone, if you have to think about it, and every time you enter a turn you don’t know how the front end of the car will react… it’s purely a matter of trust in the car and it never works.

Since 2020, Max Verstappen’s driving has had time to evolve. That being said, the difference in level between the two Red Bull drivers is still a current topic, especially after the end of the 2023 season. Sergio Perez, just like his predecessor Alex Albon, also struggled a lot against the three-time world champion. One of the explanations may be the now revealed secret of an extremely sensitive front end that only Max Verstappen seems to be able to exploit.