Alex Albon Appreciation Post
Alrighty, an anon asked me to make a post about why Alex is so brilliant and I thought why not, he probably will never see this, but he deserves the best and I’ll do anything to spread positivity about this walking sunshine as he’s going through tough times.
He was literally the first from the rookies who really won me over, I remember pretty vividly for him from pictures walking in the paddock with a huge smile on his face as he completed half of his biggest goal by getting into F1 and that exact moment I promised myself to protect this man at all costs. He radiates positive energy and never fails to make me smile. Just like George, he impressed me too with his mental strength smiling even when he had an awful race. You can clearly see his smile isn’t the same this year, he might be smiling after horrific qualifying results but he’s struggling to keep it together as media, the team and even fans putting a lot of pressure on him. I have to say I really miss his smile and positivity, but I know he’s going through hell right now and as a fan of his I’ll support him.
I’ll fight with anyone who say he’s a horrible driver and has to be demoted. Seriously, do you know anything about this man before you judge? I have no idea why people tent to compare him with Max who is in F1 for SIX years and definitely has more experience than Alex. Instead they should look into details and how much he improved to HIMSELF.
He was the most unexperienced rookie last year, literally never had an opportunity to test any F1 cars, his first ever time he has driver the machinery was in Barcelona in Testing. Wasn’t able to test in Abu Dhabi either as RBR only told him the news that week and couldn’t even do a seat-fit. Yet he was doing amazing in his first ever qualifying session where he finished ahead of his teammate, Dany.
Do we all remember his crash in China? He had to start from the pitlane but still was able to collect a point with Toro Rosso. You can tell, ‘it’s only luck’, but I will disagree. Look up for the onboard video on F1’s YouTube channel and you’ll see he was actually OVERTAKING cars with his own ability. Wait, I’ll help you and drop the link here! You’re welcome.
What about the wet race in Germany? Neither of the three rookies experienced to race in the wet with an F1 car before. At some point he was fighting with LEWIS HAMILTON, six-time-world champion for positions. He had a chance to get his first podium, but the team decided not to pit him for slicks in case it’s too soon, so he finished SIXTH. Which still an AWESOME result from a driver who has never ever driven in wet.
First race with Red Bull, starting from the back of the grid due to an engine spec change, we all expected a comeback masterclass to the front and we got what we wished for, extremely great manoeuvres especially on Daniel and Checo. In the end, he crossed the line on FIFTH position getting a big chank of points as he was the one RBR driver to finish.
Brazil, 2019. I reckon we all remember what happened there. Possibility for him to get his first podium but sadly, he came together with Lewis (SIDENOTE: Yes, I was angry at Lewis back then but it’s no reason for anyone throwing shades to him because of it. Alex left the door open, Lewis went for the gap both of them misjudged the situation. The same situation happened with Kevin and Alex last week. Both Lewis and Alex got penalties, END OF STORY).
The 2020 season happened to be harder for him in every occasions. He crashed with Lewis again in the first race when he possible could achieve a podium or a win easily. Second was way better finished P4. Yes, a big different behind Max, but what did you expect? He has ONLY 6 months experience, while Max drives for RBR for four years.
Qualifying in Hungary and Silverstone were probably the deepest misery for him, as he failed to get through to Q3. He had so much struggle with the car especially in the second race in Austria and Hungary happened to be just as bad. But don’t forget, Max was also complaining about the balance as well, so it’s mostly the cars fault. Also, he asked the team not putting him in traffic and what did they do? Ignored his wish and sent him out in the worst time possible.
And look at the race results, in both occasions he managed to get himself into the points!
Of course, he’s not perfect. He crashed the car many times since he got the promotion but again, I’ll EMPHAZISE, it’s his only second season and changed seats with Pierre halfway through the season so had to adjust to TWO cars in his FIRST season. Other rookies could make mistakes but he wasn’t allowed to just because he’s in a top team? Nonsense, still a ROOKIE with half of the experience as George or Lando. Can you all remember when in 2018 Max broke his car like no tomorrow in the first half of the season? He got hate of course, but majority of the people were still protecting him, even he wasn’t a newcomer to the sport. So why can’t they do the same with Alex? What did he do to get all the hate? If it’s because of the step up and demotion of Pierre, stop right here! IT WAS A TEAM DECISION. Alex has nothing to with it apart from accepting the offer to change teams having fear of dropping once again if doesn’t do.
I’ve read comments under posts saying ‘oh the guy finished third in F2 has the best car out of the three’. Here is a piece of information! Alex was just as competitive as Lando against George in their F2 year, and I’m a little upset journalists and commentators only mentioning Lando as title contender while Alex was literally ahead of Lando in the standing before the last round. Also, his future was the biggest question mark that year, he has no routes to F1 yet, no teams offered him a seat in F2 either so he signed with Formula E, almost giving up on his dream to reach the king category., when the call came up from Toro Rosso.
I’m positive that now everyone who watched Drive to Survive Season 2 knows about the dark secret of Alex’s past towering over him since the media found out last year and post about it. I find it really disgusting judging a driver by their parents’ act. Yes, Alex’s mom acted against the law, she got her punishment, it’s not necessary to blame her anymore or even pressurize Alex for it, like he’ll be responsible for his mom’s acts. Next to the team pressure he needs to deal with this as well, like media loves to use these things against drivers especially if they’re already in trouble.
Alex was only FIFTEEN when his mom went to jail and being the oldest of his siblings, he was the man caring about them. Imagine a young teenager boy dealing with the responsible to give everything to his siblings and taking care of them. By the way, it’s the exact same time when he was dropped by Helmut Marko. The whole fiasco started here, like instead of supporting him in the hardest time of his life they just gave up on him and literally said: ‘deal with it alone, we don’t give a fuck if you underperform…’ (AND DID IT WITH PIERRE AS WELL! I swear they never learn)
On social media you’re able to see how Alex’s siblings are so grateful for Alex, always posting about him especially on their pet account, watching all the races and support him dearly, and honestly, that’s what he deserves, no less! Constant supporting and encouraging words instead of letting him down with critics just because you dislike him or he’s having a hard time recently. You help him nothing with the hateful comments, messages. What if you give him support and say nice things other than judging him immediately on social media? You have no right to give hate to someone you don’t know anything about, because most of the toxic statements coming from people know only a little about this man or even the sport. It’s not like you hop in and perform perfectly, it’s so complicated and more technical and if you don’t understand it, why are you even watching F1?
Alex Albon proved him SO MANY TIMES and I’m upset and disappointed people are so blind not seeing it and throwing rocks to him because he’s not able to drive an under-balanced car without any given support from the team. Just imagine yourself in this situation. Having a co-worker contracted with the company for five year and you got a job in the same field. Would you be able to become immediately as incredible as the old worker? Just think about it, getting hate and spicy comments because you can’t use a program that exact colleague working with for five years or doing the amount of work that person can with more experience and knowledge behind her/his back. Plus, your boss is monitoring you all the time, comparing you with your co-worker, saying he/she is able to do awesome thing, so why are you so slow? Seeing the difference? It’s not that easy, isn’t it? Then before you giving shit and throwing shades to Alex, think ahead! I don’t mind you give your own opinion about him with a kind, civilized manner, we can discuss about it, looking into more point of views. BUT I won’t respect any HATEFUL statements on him, because it’s not what he deserves.
His driver career has its ups and downs but he’s out there fighting and trying to prove himself EVERY TIME. The pressure on him is double if not tripled. Has to show what he can do to the team, to the media and to the fans. But remember, he has been dropped from the Red Bull Drivers Program once and it also gives him nerves and pressurizes him not to happen again just as much as Helmut Marko does.
Little FACTS *George Russell’s voice* I find adorable in connection with Alex. All of the family cats are named after clothing brands probably because of the influence of his mom and sisters, but talk about dogs! He has two dogs (was it three? I don’t remember, so correct me if I’m wrong), one is named after Michael Schumacher (I believe he’s in heaven now, so disturbing 😭) and one after Valentino Rossi. WHAT A FANBOY HE IS! And to top all of this, his whole room was red because he was Ferrari mad in his young age having Michael Schumacher as his hero and role model. ADORABLE
We have vlogs from him in his Toro Rosso year, give it a go to watch them, you can see there his true cheerful attitude and how much he appreciates the chance he was given to him by the call of Toro Rosso.
LAST THING, RBR favouriting Max over any other driver in the other car isn’t Max’s fault. He’s an amazing driver and deserves to be supported or praised. It’s the team’s fault, they’re literally not able to show support for both drivers. They’ve failed in TWO occasions already, letting down BOTH Pierre and Alex (not even mentioning Dany because it was the worst SHITSHOW ever!), pretending they’re the problem while the big amount of pressure they’re putting on them is ridiculous. I’m happy about the fact Max is defended both Alex and Pierre in interviews but I don’t think he even understands how differently the team treating the second drivers who is not him.
I’m so sad seeing the big amount of hate he is getting right now and can’t understand people why they’re not sending something sweet instead of being judgemental! Can we all send love to Alex, please? He’s still a human being and can feel pain looking through all the comments he gets and it can truly damage his mental health.
I’d like to thank you coming for my Ted Talk about how amazing Alex is! You’re free to disagree in a CIVILIZED way so we can discuss about different views. You can correct me if I write something incorrectly.
I’m heading out because it’s getting embarrassing how long this post will be 🙈
