04/01/2021
NEWS STORY
Alex Albon is to race in DTM, the German Touring Car Championship, after losing his Red Bull F1 drive to Sergio Perez.
The move was announced by DTM itself, as opposed to the Thai driver, a brief statement revealing that the 24-year-old will contest the series whenever his Red Bull test, reserve and simulator duties allow.
Though it is not known which team Albon will drive for, he will have backing from Red Bull.
"The DTM with a high-class field and GT3 sports cars is an interesting platform and a real challenge," said Helmut Marko, Red Bull's motorsport consultant.
Finishing 7th in the 2020 Formula One World Championship, Albon scored just 105 points and two podium finishes to teammate Max Verstappen's 214 and 11 podiums. Other than Nicholas Latifi, he was the only driver to be out-qualified by his (regular) teammate at every round.
"Lack of consistency and he got rattled too easily," explained Marko last month when asked why the team eventually opted to drop Albon, "when, for example, the wind gained intensity or came from a different direction. Or when the tyres started to degrade, then he lost time disproportionately.
"It's certainly a mental story as well," he added. "But when you have a teammate who is permanently driving at the absolute top level, no matter what the car is like, it plays a minor role, I think.
"Of course, getting to the mental thing, all the reports and the unsatisfactory results have unsettled him. His gap to Verstappen actually increased over the course of the season, not decreased.
"It was marginal," he admitted, "but it increased."