Albon was ‘one of the most unprepared drivers’ to enter F1

Handed a late call up to Formula 1, Alex Albon reckons he was “one of the most unprepared drivers” to ever line up on the grid.

Saying farewell to the Formula 2 series after finishing third in 2018, Albon had signed a deal to race for Nissan in Formula E as he believed the F1 door was closed.

And then Red Bull came knocking.

The team needed a replacement driver for its junior outfit, Toro Rosso, after Daniel Ricciardo upset the team’s plans when he left for Renault. That meant Pierre Gasly was promoted to his Red Bull and Toro Rosso was left a driver short.

They approached Albon, a former Red Bull-backed driver, and with Nissan releasing him from his deal, he was on his way to Formula 1.

“It happened very last minute,” the Thai driver told the Motor Sport Magazine Podcast.

“I don’t want to go into details about how the whole thing kind of happened. But it was a tricky one because, obviously with Nissan tied up and everything like that, it didn’t make it as easy as it should… as I wish it had been, to switch from Formula E to Formula 1.

“Obviously, as a driver my age, I always want to be in Formula 1. That’s everyone’s goal being a kid. But yeah, we just had to find a deal, and once the deal was sorted, that was it.

“I remember the day, I remember how it happened. It was Russia and Marko called me up to his office but at that point I was already signed, I was already a Formula E driver, and he said to me ‘so we want you to do sim for the team next year’.

“I thought ‘you know what, this is great’. Being a Formula E driver there is okay money and I’ll be a Formula 1 reserve driver, might even be able to test a couple of times in a Formula 1 car. That was what I was thinking.

“If I don’t get into Formula 1, it is shame, but