Alex Albon 2020 Season

Alex Albon 2020 F1 Season predictions,

Thai driver, Alex Albon 2020 season has indeed started. Alex is the first Thai driver to compete in Formula One since 1954

News update August 21st 2021

Thai driver Alex Albon celebrates the first DTM win of his career in Sunday’s race eight at the iconic Nürburgring circuit to move up to fourth overall in the title race.

The 2020 Formula 1 championship has started in Austria on the 3rd – 5th July.

Like every sport, F1 has had to delay its events due to Covid-19. This month the season kicks of with racing in Austria for two weekends in a row. With the first weekend out of the way scroll down and read our views.

Alex Albon 2020

Few drivers will be as excited to get started as Albon. After only six months last year, Albon drove impressively enough to receive a promotion to one of the top teams – Red Bull Racing. That move was predicted right here on Phuket Radio. We also predicted MAYBE an F1 Thailand race will be in future Thai government plans? Our view this is still a possibility as Thailand moves to a new normal post the Covid 19 pandemic.

The 70th Formula 1 Anniversary.

Silverstone weekend 7th – 9th August 2020.

Why is that Alex cannot seem to qualify any higher?

Once again this weekend we see him 9th on the grid, yes he finished a credible 5th overall and is 6th in the Driver’s Championship.

However, there’s something not coming together for this young Anglo/Thai driver.

He consistently has had to fight his way through the field and seems to be making hard work of putting the qualifying lap together. 

Yet again on Lap 42, he places the fastest lap?

He pitted at lap 9 and found himself at the back, so a lot of work to do.

Red Bull Racing is a very competitive team and it is our opinion that he could find himself in a seat switch with Gasly if he doesn’t find those extra seconds at qualifying. 

Alexander Albon F1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone
NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 09: Alexander Albon of Thailand driving the (23) Aston Martin Red Bull Racing RB16 on track during the F1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone on August 09, 2020, in Northampton, England. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

CHRISTIAN HORNER – Team Principal

Alex also put in another very strong race today with some great passes, particularly around the outside of Copse as he progressed through the field decisively to finish a very competitive fifth place. 

Albon is again left fighting.

Meanwhile, at Red Bull, Verstappen dismantled Ricciardo’s replacement last year, Pierre Gasly, to the point that Red Bull demoted him back to the junior team, Toro Rosso, halfway through the year.

Gasly was on average over 0.5secs a lap slower than Verstappen and was lapped by his teammate twice in the 12 races they had together at Red Bull.

So in came Alex Albon, a highly promising young British-Thai driver, but the result at Red Bull has barely changed.

Verstappen still enjoys a 0.4secs qualifying advantage against Albon on average, and is constantly a thorn in the side of Mercedes, while Albon is usually left fighting with the midfielders to get into the top four or five.

So, next week Teams return to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for another weekend of action.
Sat, Aug 15 – Qualifying
Sun, Aug 16 – Race

The British GP July 31st – August 2nd 2020

Silverstone in the UK is the home of motor racing to many and maybe after this weekend, Alex was wishing it was not.

After a big crash in practice on Friday and then not a particular good qualifying session on Saturday he found himself 12th on Sunday’s grid.

Could this weekend get any worse for the Alex Albon 2020 season?

Lap 1 and a tangle with Haas driver Kevin Magnussen eventually led to a 5-second penalty after a safety car, the first of the race. Many thought this was in fact a racing incident, but hey ho, the racing stewards decided otherwise. 

The safety car came in and Alex reported a vibration which meant a pit stop on lap 7 and returns to the track at the back.

Another safety car incident and after 18 laps we had only raced 6 laps.

Lap 31 and in for tyre change and to serve a 5-second penalty.

Lap 31 and new tyres.

With over have the distance completed and a new set of tyres, there was a lot of work to do to get up and into the points.

10 laps after the pit stop with the medium tyres not working well Alex set the first of 3 fastest laps, at 41, and again at 47 and 48, where he was now in 12th.

The final 2 laps saw a lot of change with both Mercedes front runners suffering from tyre issues, Bottas dropping out of the points with his puncture and Hamilton running half a lap with a front left puncture. Meanwhile. Alex’s teammate Max Verstappen having pitted on lap 50 to go for the fastest lap finished just 6 seconds behind Hamilton.

With so many of the front runners suffering from tyre issues including Russell, Vettel and Stroll, Alex was able to overall them and finished 8th collecting 4 points.

Alex Albon 2020 Season
NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 02: Alexander Albon of Thailand driving the (23) Aston Martin Red Bull Racing RB16 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone on August 02, 2020, in Northampton, England. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

Alex Albon Says:-

“Eighth isn’t what I want but it’s damage limitation after the damage to the car and penalty at the start of the race. I think the incident with Kevin was 50/50, he made a mistake and left a gap so I went for the move.

When I realised he didn’t see me and he closed the door I tried to get out of the way but we touched. There was a big difference of speed going into the corner and it couldn’t be avoided.

We had a lot of work to do this weekend but we did the best we could and the race pace was okay fighting back through the field. I’m happy we’ve got another race here at Silverstone next weekend as I love this track and we can use what we’ve learned this week and put it into practice.”

Unfortunately, he also lost the fastest lap point to his teammate. Now, had Max not gone for it he probably would have passed Hamilton and won.

Hey ho that’s racing and Alex now sits with 26 points in the driver’s championship and 6th in the standings.

Next week we return to Silverstone for the anniversary 70th Grand Prix. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

2020 HUNGARIAN GP

ALEX ALBON, Finish Position: 5th, Start Position: 13th
“It was a good race and I had a lot of fun with my elbows out. If you had told me we’d be P5 after yesterday I would have jumped at it. Today was never going to be easy starting from P13 but we had a good start and we made our way through the field. It’s not easy to overtake at this circuit so we had to do some big moves to get past people. Read the full Red Bull Racing Race report. 

Alex Albon 2020 Hungary GP
Alexander Albon of Thailand driving the (23) Aston Martin Red Bull Racing RB16 on track during the Formula One Grand Prix of Hungary at Hungaroring on July 19, 2020, in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Darko Bandic/Pool via Getty Images)

 Lots more pictures of Alex’s 2020 season here. Now, A week off and then it’s two full weekends in the UK, Silverstone here we come.

Styrian Austria GP 10th – 12th July

Well done to Alex after horrendously wet conditions for qualifying on Saturday we found ourselves in 6th position on the grid.

The big mystery is what tyres was everyone on, due to the official wet qualifying. All was soon discovered as the covers came off revealing the top 7 all on the soft compound.

Lap 8 we saw Alex move up to 4th where he was to stay until 15 laps to go as Perez was on a charge and started to come into the DRS zone in 5th place.

In second place teammate Max was having issues with debris on his front wing and was to eventually drop to third.  Meanwhile, Alex Albon 2020 season was nearly brought to another halt in a racing incident with Perez. Remember last week with Hamilton, only this time Perez came worst off after touching the Red Bull of Albon.

The Mexican made a bid for the position with just two laps to go but came to grief as he tried to pass at Turn Four in a mirror of the collision between Hamilton and Albon at the same place last week.

Alex Albon 2020 season is intact as he scores 12 points and 8th in the driver standings.

Alex Albon 2020
Alexander Albon of Thailand driving the (23) Aston Martin Red Bull Racing RB16 on track during qualifying for the Formula One Grand Prix of Styria at Red Bull Ring on July 11, 2020 in Spielberg, Austria. (Photo by Leonhard Foeger/Pool via Getty Images)

Next weekend to the Hungarian Grand Prix

Austrian GP weekend 4th – 5th July.

Oh my goodness Alex Albon 2020 season gets underway with an excellent qualify session and a great start. Then, WHAT, another indecent with Lewis Hamilton, again stopping Alex from getting his inaugural podium. 

How, must he have felt when Hamilton stayed wide causing Alex to flip around and boom, we could hear his heart sink in Phuket.

Could Alex Albon 2020 season have been an outstanding start and maybe with both Mercedes struggling he could have won, but certainly seen himself on his first F1 Podium. 

Albon said: “I am a bit depressed right now so I have to be careful what I say. I really felt like I could have won the race. Mercedes had the outright pace but the guys did a great job with the strategy.

“There is always the risk of overtaking on the outside but I gave it as much space as I could. I was right on the edge, if I gave him all the space I could give him, it is up to him if he wants to crash or not.”

Hamilton of course said he felt it was a “racing incident”.

So we move to the Austrian GP version two this weekend and wish Alex much much better luck.  We have started to compile an Alex Albon 2020 Season picture gallery here

Alex Albon 2020
SPIELBERG, AUSTRIA – JULY 05: Alexander Albon of Thailand driving the (23) Aston Martin Red Bull Racing RB16 on track during the Formula One Grand Prix of Austria at Red Bull Ring on July 05, 2020 in Spielberg, Austria. (Photo by Joe Klamar/Pool via Getty Images)

Alex Albon 2020 F1 Predictions

Now, not only is Alex Albon the only Asian driver in Formula 1 for the second year running, but he also has a fantastic opportunity to win a race in this 2020 season. There is a gap in performance between the ten teams in the sport. Unlike in 2019 where he started at a junior outfit, Albon will enjoy a full season in a car that is capable of winning races.

Will we see the Thai flag on a podium this year?

It’s not unlikely. Alex Albon proved he had the speed to succeed last year, even with his limited F1 experience. At the race in Brazil, Albon was on course to clinch Thailand’s first podium in Formula 1, before another driver crashed into him. Aside from that, he never finished lower than 6th place in every other race for Aston Martin Red Bull Racing.

Red Bull Racing are set and Alex Albon 2020 in car number 23 the RB 16 i definitely one to watch. Powered by the Honda developed 6 cylinders, 1600 cc engine producing 900 BHP is a winning machine.

Are you an Alex Albon SUPER fan? Check out this quiz and discover how much you know about Alex. 

The 2020 F1 Season

So far, seven countries have cancelled their 2020 F1 race events including Singapore and Japan.

The announced schedule currently only has European venues, with the governing body due to unveil further circuits shortly. To help prevent the spread of the virus, no fans can attend, and regular testing for team personnel will be in place.

Alex Albon 2020
The current F1 calendar. picture credit Tech Adviser

The season may be different from any Formula 1 has seen before, but for Alex Albon 2020 might be the year he shows the world just how good a driver he is.

Stay tuned to Phuket FM Radio on 91.5 FM and 102.5 FM, regular race report updates On-Air and Online Stream.

FORMULA 1 ARAMCO GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA 2020

14-16 AUGUST
 
 

Off the grid, Sebastian Vettel to race for Aston Martin Racing Point, read the full story. 

Sir Stirling Moss a Formula One world championship

Sad news on Sunday as Phuket FM radio received the news that Sir Stirling Moss passed away.

Sail GP – Cadiz Spain

A dramatic afternoon in Cádiz Spain ended with Australia winning the Spain Sail Grand Prix.

The Aussies, who have now won three Sail GP events this season, beat the United States and Great Britain in the winner-takes-all Final.