Red Bull Racing recorded an invincible season in 2023. While the team secured the constructors title before the final stretch, Max Verstappen also retained his World Championship for the third time in a row. However, Max’s teammate Sergio Perez visibly struggled despite being in the fastest car on the grid, RB19.
Checo replaced Alex Albon at the end of the 2020 season but failed to live up to the hype. He struggled to keep up with Max Verstappen in 2022, and 2023 proved to be a nightmarish season for the Mexican driver. Amid talks of seat scuffle, Albon opened up on how statistics showed that he was better than Checo in the Red Bull season a couple of years ago.
Alex Albon Used Statistics To Land A Seat At Williams!
After a woeful 2020 season, Alex Albon was replaced with Sergio Perez at Red Bull. Albon subsequently resumed the reserve driver duties but stayed eager to contest for a seat. But he had nothing in hand to prove himself after a disastrous stint with a top-tier team. However, Alex devised a plan and used statistics to his advantage. In a recent interview with the High-Performance podcast, Albon says that in 2020, while Max Verstappen fished fourth or fifth, he struggled to make it into the top 10. To those unversed, Max’s lethal form made Alex’s life a living hell. He was out-qualified by the Dutchman in each of the qualifying sessions held during the covid-hit season.
While Red Bull didn’t put faith in his abilities to bounce back, Alex Albon does not think his replacement, Checo, was anywhere close to him in terms of performance. The Thai-British driver used statistics to prove the same. He said he formed an Excel sheet comparing his, Checo, and Pierre Gasly’s speed to that of Verstappen’s, and surprisingly, his speed emerged better. But with his seat already lost, Alex pulled off a masterstroke and sent the stats to teams with an opening, including the Williams. Fortunately, it worked in Albon’s favor, and he landed with Williams. The rest is history. While the Briton continued to scale new heights with Williams, Perez is currently struggling to secure his seat till the end of his term. Perhaps the Bulls pulled the plug way too early.
Carlos Sainz Amongst Likeable Candidates For Red Bull Second Seat!
Meanwhile, Sergio Perez seems most likely to lose his Red Bull seat before his contract concludes at the end of the 2024 season. Moreover, as far as replacements are concerned, Daniel Ricciardo remains an ideal fit. He served as the team’s reserve driver for the first half of the 2023 season before eventually moving to sister team AlphaTauri.
Ricciardo went down on loan to AlphaTauri and would return back as Red Bull’s third driver in 2024. Having said that, new rumors suggest that even Carlos Sainz is in the race to replace Checo. Sainz’s contract runs through 2024, and if Checo leaves at the end of his term, the Ferrari driver stands a realistic chance to replace him, given Ferrari decided to part.
