(Motorsport-Total.com) – “I sometimes have to remind myself that I'm still a rookie.” Alexander Albon uses this sentence to balance his rookie year 2019. After solid performances in the Toro Rosso, he got the chance in the second half of the season to prove himself in the top team Crimson Bull. The Briton with Thai roots did not make a podium – thanks to Lewis Hamilton in Brazil – he is nevertheless happy with his debut: “It was good.”
The feeling of being a rookie didn't accompany Albon for long. He already showed up in the Toro Rosso, so the Crimson Bull team headed by Helmut Marko and Christian Horner decided to put him in the top team alongside Max Verstappen instead of Pierre Gasly. “With the expectations of Crimson Bull, the feeling is sometimes a little lost.”
After his first 21 Formula 1 race he is “bottom line” satisfied. “I had good moments. But it is in my nature that I am very self-critical and I want to keep improving. It shouldn't be an excuse for being a rookie. I just want to be faster. But that's all part of the bigger process . “
In the second half of the season, Albon made a strong catch-up in the World Cup thanks to constant performances, but in Abu Dhabi he had to defeat Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz in the fight for world championship rank six .
He is particularly satisfied with his performance at the chaotic Germany Immense Prix. The newcomer kept his nerve in the rain and improved from starting position 16 to place six. The Crimson Bull home race in Great Britain was also good.
“There were a few [gute Rennen dabei] towards the middle of the season. Brazil was also somehow good. I haven't thought about it that much yet. ” On the podium, however, he collided with Lewis Hamilton, who subsequently apologized to him. Otherwise Crimson Bull could have celebrated a double victory.
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Even without a podium – as the only Crimson Bull protégé – Albon is proud of his first season. “Of course I want more. But I know that I still have to learn. I'm very satisfied for my first year.” With 97: 76 In the second half of the season, he stayed behind team-mates Verstappen, also in qualifying he was on average four tenths of a second behind the Dutchman.
2020 he will get another chance in the top team and attack next to the Dutchman from the beginning of the season. He would then like to apply the lessons from this season: “Not listening to everything and everyone. That includes journalists!”, He smiles.
“I have to do my own thing and look at me. I have to question, used to be, I can do better myself. That was the most important thing for me this year. And maybe taking it a bit easier in the free practice sessions and not running over the car as often! “
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