11/05/2022
NEWS STORY
While others continue to struggle, Alex Albon has discovered the perfect way to improve his competitiveness... without the need for costly upgrades that break the budget.
On route to Melbourne, Williams driver Alex Albon stopped off in his native Thailand, and whilst there visited a local orphanage. For reasons he has yet to explain, over the course of the visit he allowed the children to colour his hair red.
Lo and behold, the youngster subsequently gave a masterclass in tyre management in the Australian Grand Prix, finishing tenth after completing almost the entire race on the same set of tyres.
While the colour was wearing out by the time he reached Imola, he gave another superb performance, finishing 11th after starting from the very back of the grid.
For Miami he gave the hair dye a re-fresh, and on Sunday he crossed the line in ninth following anther sterling performance.
Speaking after the race, the youngster dismissed the need for costly upgrades which risk breaking the budget cap, insisting that all he needs is to keep the hair dye close to hand.
"No upgrades are ever needed, you just need to dye your hair," he told Sky Sports. That's all it is.
"We got it dyed before Melbourne and we finished tenth and then as the dye faded away, we finished 11th In Imola. So it started to affect the performance," he added. "So, we re-dyed it, hoping for more points."
However, racing in the intense Miami heat was not without its problems.
"My balaclava is like soaking red, it's bright red," he revealed. "All the dye has leaked. It looks like I've been beheaded...
"We did say that if I scored points this weekend the whole team were going to dye their hair red," he said. "I just went to the engineering room and they're all starting to backtrack their comments like ‘Ah no, it was a podium'."
Joking apart, the youngster, who was dropped by Red Bull at the end of 2020, is doing an impressive job at Williams, and surely serving notice that he is ready for a return to one of the bigger teams.
"I feel I'm doing a better job than I was a couple of years ago," he said. "I've had a year to address the places I want to work on and mature.
"We're on the rise... myself as well. I feel like I'm improving every drive, I'm more experienced than I ever was and I'm feeling pretty good."