Thai Alex Albon gets promoted to Red Bull F1 drive

It’s not common that Formula 1 teams change their driver lineup mid-way through the season, but it has happened in the past. Now, during this season’s F1 summer break, Red Bull Racing has announced they have dropped Pierre Gasly and will replace him with Toro Rosso Driver Alex Albon. For the remainder of the season, Albon will be partnered with Max Verstappen while Gasly will return to Toro Rosso for the remainder of the season.

The 23-year old Thai driver has been performing great for his debut F1 season, having scored a total of 16 points from the 12 Grand Prix to date for Toro Rosso. His best result was finishing 6th during the rain-affected German Grand Prix, coincidentally his first ever wet F1 race as well.

By contrast, Gasly has been struggling throughout the 2019 season when compared to his teammate Verstappen. While Gasly has scored 63 points throughout the season, it is still pale compared to his teammate’s 181 points. Furthermore, he also has yet to make a podium finish in a car that has already won two races and has been out-qualified by his teammate in nearly every race this season.

With Albon being promoted to Red Bull Racing, the team hopes to secure more points once the summer break ends. The team will also use the next nine races to “evaluate Alex’s performance” in order to make an informed decision as to who will drive alongside Max Verstappen in 2020.

The next Formula 1 race will take place on September 1 and will be held at the Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. Only then will we see what the Thai driver is fully capable of a Red Bull.