Red Bull Racing adviser Helmut Marko says he blames Lewis Hamilton for ‘muting’ Alex Albon’s career in Formula 1.
British driver Albon came through the ranks of Red Bull’s young driver program, under Marko’s supervision, before making the move from sister team Toro Rosso to join Red Bull’s main squad alongside Max Verstappen midway through the 2019 season.
Despite scoring two podiums in his 18 months with the team, Albon struggled to produce anything comparable to the pace Verstappen produced in the same machine, and was dropped in favor of Sergio Perez for the 2021 season.
The 26-year-old spent a year on the sidelines as Red Bull’s test and development driver before returning to the grid this year with backmarkers Williams, replacing George Russell following his move to Mercedes, although he retains contractual ties with Red Bull.
Hamilton made two contact with Albon at the track during his time at Red Bull and was handed a couple of five-second penalties for knocking him off the road in Brazil in 2019 and Austria in 2020. Marko, known for making negative comments about Hamilton on almost a weekly basis, the seven-time world champion blames Albon’s decline in form.
“Lewis Hamilton didn’t ruin his career, but he did put a damper on it,” he said in an interview with Red Bull’s internal electronic magazine. The Red Bulletin.
‘[Albon] was second in Brazil in 2019 when Hamilton drove him off the track. Then Alex Hamilton wanted to pass on the outside at the Red Bull Ring in 2020 but was pushed onto the gravel. He would have won that race, but he came away empty-handed. It took him a long time to get over that.’
Marko’s blunt comments are notorious in the F1 paddock, and he also made disparaging comments about Albon’s personality in the same interview.
“Alex is very fast, but I wonder if he’s too nice,” Marko added. “He’s a bit like David Coulthard, who everyone likes, but wasn’t tough enough in the end.”
Albon has impressed on his return to full-time racing, scoring three points while driving the slowest car in the field.
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