"Unnerving" Red Bull proving to be Albon's downfall

Red Bull

"Unnerving" Red Bull proving to be Albon's downfall

Time and races are running out for Thai-British driver

Ian Parkes

Thursday 29 October 2020 07:34

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes Alex Albon's struggles this season are related to the "unnerving" nature of the RB16.

Since finally scoring his maiden podium with the team in the Tuscan Grand Prix at Mugello, Albon has endured a wretched run in which he has only scored one point from three races.

It has sparked speculation as to whether he will be retained for 2021, notably with Sergio Perez and Nico Hülkenberg on the market, and with Horner ruling neither out of the running for partnering Max Verstappen.

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With races running out, and with the RB16 unlikely to improve dramatically to Albon's liking, Horner said: "I think the car is a more difficult car to drive than the AlphaTauri. We know that, it’s very very clear.

"I think that the car is much more rear-sensitive and I think that can be unnerving for drivers. Max copes with that incredibly well, other drivers have struggled more with that. I think that is just the fact of it."

While there was a recent clamour for Pierre Gasly to be promoted for a second time to Red Bull, that prospect was laid to rest when the Frenchman was retained by AlphaTauri for 2021.

Horner feels the nature of the AT01 would also suit Albon to such an extent the Thai-British driver would be performing equally as well as Gasly has done this season.

"I think if Alex was in an AlphaTauri he’d probably be doing a very similar job, as we saw last year, to that of Pierre, I’ve got no doubt of that," added Horner.

"It’s just the characteristics of our car, they are struggling to commit on corner entry. You see it a little bit at Ferrari with [Charles] Leclerc and [Sebastian] Vettel at the moment, and you saw it in the race [in Portugal] with [Lewis] Hamilton and [Valtteri] Bottas. That’s just the way it is sometimes."

Before you go...

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Perez and Hülkenberg can wait for Red Bull decision - Horner