Alex Albon Joins Red Bull from Spa Onwards

[Sasha Jednak]

Since they have all numbers for all 4 drivers, they obviously see that Albon is right choice. With their development I also think they want to beat Ferrari in WC, and it won’t work with Gasly. Let’s not forget, he came to that seat because faster driver left and he was “the best” available. As said, the least surprising news. Good luck to them both!

 

[Sasha Jednak]

Not following F1 lately so is it just me or RedBull team now is comprised of newbies? No seasoned mature drivers?
Are they changing their motto to "SendIT"?

Nope, Max is in his 5th season (80+ races), and he showed in last 12 months that he has quite matured and got over his “issues” from before. He is not “Kimi mature”, but he is not newbie.

 

[RichardHessels]

Let's be fair, Gasly did not perform above any expectations for the whole season.
Next to that Gasly is not able to give proper feedback about the cars behaviour, to fine tune the setup.
Ok Max is extremely fast, but he should be right on his tail.
So the No. 1 driver got a buffer for the cars behind him and the team takes points that otherwise would go to the competition. Now Max is driving on his own at the front, where the other teams have 2 drivers that are able score good points or can help the team out when needed with different strategies.
But Gasly's driving does have hardly added value to the team, his performance sets no reference points.
So Gasly seemed to be fast, but not the driver that gives or finds that extra edge at the highest level.
If anybody thinks his career is ruined by Red Bull.
He ruined it himself this season.
You not only need to be fast, but also be bold and make a statement within the team.
That last few tenth's of a second under pressure comes from the mind not the machine.

 

[Nick Hill]

Excited but a little nervous for Albon. One thing to keep in mind though, I don't think he realistically needs to beat Max, he just needs to keep things closer than Gasly did (which I think could be a reasonable goal to achieve).

I'm a little surprised how upset people are about this move. To me, this is what we should be seeing in F1. If it is really the "Pinnacle of Motorsport" (which, unfortunately, is legitimately up for debate in recent times), then these teams (the well funded ones, at least) should have zero tolerance for mediocre performance.

My memory may be playing tricks on me but "back in the day" it seems to me this kind of mid season number 2 driver shuffling was pretty common. Fewer races, fewer cars scoring points, lots of tobacco money lining pockets - if someone isn't bringing home the points, swap him out.

 

[Ghoults]

I think it was the right move to replace Gasly. Gasly was just too slow and did not show signs of improvement. Red bull can't afford to keep the other red bull in the midfield when they need second car in the top to fight ferrari for the 2nd position in team championship. Whether Albon has what it takes is somewhat uncertain though. Someone like Ocon would have been much more entertaining for sure. Albon has done well against Kvyat who is a known quantity and is improving.

I don't think inexperience counts against driver. Gasly would not be able to match Verstappen even if he had to spend couple more years at toro rosso. If you have it you can do it. Good drivers like Hamilton, Verstappen, Räikkönen, Schumacher have all proven you can jump into f1 and be competitive. The teams have so much data analysis going on that the driver just needs to drive fast. The cars are full of electronics anyways.

 

[Crash T Dummy]

Not following F1 lately so is it just me or RedBull team now is comprised of newbies? No seasoned mature drivers?
Are they changing their motto to "SendIT"?

Max has 4.5 seasons experience. I would call him a veteran driver.

 

[Thang Nguyen]

from redbull website.



max is 21, albon is 23.... not sure what being young have to do with it.

Oh so that's why Albon chose 23 as his race number?

 

[erba72]

Galsy leaved by himself or does RedBull did that ?

 

[erba72]

I think that RedBull is testing Albon. The ultimate plan would be testing Albon for the second half of this season, and if he does better than Gasly, he will stay for next year. But if he does not good enough, he will be replaced by Kvyat for next year

 

[Bunkiester]

I agree completely with what Nick Hill says above. We fans are allowed, even expected to become emotionally attached to drivers, but F1 is above all a business. The people at the top of the teams are expected to make the hard decisions based solely upon what they believe is the best move for the success of their annual campaign. And if that means ditching a driver, so be it. Just look at the rosters from the 60's and 70's, drivers swapped rides left and right, year after year, as each team did whatever they could to ensure their climb to the podium.

This years results make it clear that Gasly wasn't supporting his team mate in the points race, and with the luxury of having Torro Rosso available, it's practically a non-decision to move Albon into the "big team" and demote Gasly. In the worst case scenario the situation remains the same, but in the off chance that Albon continues to display his past level of performance, Red Bull just might knock Ferrari out of 2nd place in the Constructors Championship, and that's what really matters to the team, the investors, and so on. It may also give Gasly the "push" needed to improve his performance, who knows ?

I wish them both the best of luck in their new rides.

 

[MustartMatters]

April fools?

But we're in August lmao

 

[NewOne0]

Was about time, Gasly just didn't deliver at all. Will be interesting to see if Albon can pick up the pace.

 

[Michel Bélisle]

Let us send some positive vibes to Albon. Being #2 driver at Red Bull is a tough place to be these days.

 

[Edison5do]

I could understand the logic when they demoted Kvyat, since Verstappen was waiting in the wings, and well, we all knew he was going to be in that seat next year, and that he was the next big thing. But, there's literally nothing to suggest that Albon will do any better than Gasly, so why the urgency to upset the apple cart at the half way point? With just 12 starts to his name, I fear this is a big risk for Alex as well.

I think they know how Kvyat is on a RB, Gasly on a RB, they want to know how Albon do in a RB, and next season decide who will be there in 2020. This year was going to be "Test" of Honda, turns out Honda is #Blessed these days so they change the focus from 3rd place to 2nd place in constructors, and if they are going to be in 3rd place anyway, better try something new.

 

[antirussia81]

Dr Helmut Marko really doesn't like flowers

 

[Onionsteak]

Man, once again you can't trust anything Helmut and Horner say, somewhat surprised by this.

 

[pcraenme]

So Torro Rosso has changed from a junior driver development team to a driver 'just not good enough for the real deal' team? I personally think this Albon move comes much too early. He is talented, but I don't think he will do better in the RB than Gasly did. I am also disappointed because this will probably close the door on Hulkenberg moving to RB next year. Max and 'The Hulk' would be a great driver combo I think.

 

[NDG]

Of course I will never remember who they were, but I remember when Gasly was lapped by Max, and when he crash in whatever race that was, people here and in other places/forums were shouting like "replace him already!"... I think people were hoping for a Kvyat return. Regardless, none of this is ever a surprise given the history of what they did to Kvyat. Sorry to Gasly, and good luck to Albon I guess...

 

[BrettSinclair1]

[...] Kvyat has already had a chance and he blew it.

Kvyat beat Ricciardo in 2015 and scored a podium in 2016, unlike Ricciardo, before they sacked him.
He didn't blow it, Red Bull wanted Max in the car and sacrificed Kvyat.

 

[rubaru]

I'm happy for Albon to get his shot, but also disappointed that Gasly couldn't live up to the expectations. I surely hope that Red Bull give Albon some time to adjust, but also understanding now that 9 races will be all he gets. Gasly had 12 before the axe came down, but with the off-season looming Albon will need to prove himself even sooner.

Also, all you who are saying that Kvyat had his shot are forgetting how immature he was at the time. Sure, he was the same age, but maturity is different. I think he would actually do quite well at a top team now that he has had some more time in F1. Not a #1 driver, perhaps, but I think well enough to score some points and help the team win a WCC. Thinking someone like Mark Webber, who won a few races, scored a lot of points, but always thought of the team first.

And how would you all feel if the title of this article were, "Esteban Ocon Joins Mercedes from Spa Onwards", only to learn Bottas had been given the boot because he was falling behind Lewis?