Alexander Albon

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Alexander Philippe Albon Ansusinha was born at the Portland Hospital in the City of Westminster, London, England, on 23 March 1996. His father, Nigel Albon is a British former racing driver who participated in the British Touring Car Championship and Porsche Carrera Cup. His mother, Kankamol 'Minky' Albon (née Ansusinha), originates from Thailand. His uncle, Mark Albon, is a former racing driver who competed in one round of International Formula 3000. Growing up in Bures, Suffolk alongside a younger brother, Luca, and three sisters, Chloe, Zoe and Alicia, Albon attended Ipswich School before leaving to pursue his professional racing career, citing Michael Schumacher and Valentino Rossi as being inspirational figures when he was younger.

In Their Own Story

The 2020 season was a challenging one for Alexander Albon. Driving the RB16, he struggled to match the pace of his teammate Max Verstappen, who scored 11 podiums including 2 wins. Albon managed two podium finishes of his own, but was generally outperformed. However, he ended the year on a high at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where he finished fourth after pressuring Mercedes and preventing them from using an alternate strategy. That strong finish was not enough to save his seat; for 2021, Albon was replaced by Sergio Pérez and moved into a test and reserve driver role.

Reader's Guide

Albon started competitively racing karts in 2005 at the age of eight, competing locally and winning his local Hoddesdon Championship at Rye House Kart Circuit. In 2006, Albon started racing in the cadet class, finishing first at the Kartmasters British Grand Prix and participating in the Super 1 National Honda Cadet Championship finishing first in 2006 and second in 2007. In 2008, he was signed to the Red Bull Junior Team and moved up to the KF3 class, where he stayed until 2010. During this time, Albon won the Kartmasters British Grand Prix, Formula Kart Stars Championship, KF Winter Series, Super 1 National KF3 Championship, CIK-FIA World Cup, and CIK-FIA European Championship. In 2011, Albon graduated to KF1 placing second in the WSK Euro Series and second at the CIK-FIA World Championship. From karting, Albon graduated to the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup series where he drove for EPIC Racing in 2012 alongside Kevin Giovesi, Konstantin Tereschenko, Kevin Jörg, Dennis Wusthoff and Christof von Grunigen and finished 38th out of 49 in the championship after having a tough year and being unable to score points. Albon was dropped by Red Bull at the end of 2012. In 2013, Albon was signed to Lotus F1 Academy and joined KTR to race in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season alongside Yu Kanamaru and Ignazio D'Agosto, finishing 16th out of 36 in the championship. Albon managed to secure one fastest lap and one pole position in the 2013 season, both of them coming at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. He finished the 2013 season with 22 points. In 2014, Albon raced alongside Gregor Ramsay, Jules Gounon and Callan O'Keefe and enjoyed a much more successful year. He was once again unable to find a win at any of the 14 races but managed to get one pole position at the Nürburgring and finished third in the drivers' championship with 117 points. In 2015, Albon switched to FIA European Formula 3, racing at Signature with teammate Dorian Boccolacci. He finished seventh overall, with two pole positions (scored at the Norisring), 5 podiums (including four rookie wins), and 187 points overall. In December 2015, Albon partook in post-season testing with ART Grand Prix. In 2016, Albon raced for ART in the GP3. Albon claimed four wins and finished as runner-up in the championship to teammate Charles Leclerc. In 2017, Albon graduated to the FIA Formula 2 Championship, with ART. His tea

Did You Know?

• Albon was dropped by Red Bull at the end of 2012.
• He became the first Thai driver to achieve a podium in Formula One at the Tuscan Grand Prix in 2020.
• Albon cites Michael Schumacher and Valentino Rossi as inspirational figures from his youth.