F1 Talk: Could Albon be on his way out after another disappointment in Portugal?

After coming under increasing pressure about his future in Formula 1, Red Bull Racer Alexander Albon needed a smooth weekend at Portimao. But after failing to deliver in another frustrating weekend for the British-Thai racer, can he do enough to keep his seat?

The talk coming into the weekend at Red Bull was that they would look outside of their pool of drivers if Albon did not live up to their expectations in the remainder of the season and ‘earn’ his drive for 2021.

Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s Motorsport Adviser and head of their Young Drivers’ Development Program said: “We are aware that next year if we want to compete in the WC, we need consistency. What Albon lacks is consistency. If Alex doesn’t live up to our expectations, we have to look outside our team.”

The names that have been linked to the team are Racing Point driver Sergio Perez and replacement driver this season at Racing Point, Nico Hulkenberg. As neither driver have signed a contract for 2021, both will surely be considered by Red Bull before they come to a decision.

So for Albon to be outqualified by Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and the Racing Point car of Sergio Perez as well as being over half a second down on his team-mate Max Verstappen was not ideal. Worst still was the fact that after starting on the soft tires, Albon had to do a two-stop and struggled with graining throughout the race to finish twelfth.

This comes in stark contrast to Perez’s race who after making contact with Max Verstappen on lap one came through to fifth place before dropping two places in the final two laps to Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz Jr after being last at the end of lap one.

Both Hulkenberg and Perez have a huge raft of experience, but neither man has had the chance to showcase their skills in a top F1 car. The German has the unwanted record of the most number of Grand Prix without scoring a podium while Perez’s year with McLaren coincided with the team’s downturn in fortunes in 2013. But both have an ability for consistently bringing home the points on a regular basis and would be an exceptional number two to Verstappen.

But since Daniel Ricciardo left Red Bull for Renault at the end of 2018, the second Red Bull car has seemingly been a jinx as both Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon have failed to adapt to the machinery. It is clear that the pace of the car is there, as demonstrated by Verstappen’s superior pace, but for whatever reason neither Albon nor Gasly has been able to get anywhere near the Dutchman.

So if a more experienced driver was able to come in alongside Max, it would provide Red Bull with a steady marker for both the team and Verstappen in his bid to win the world championship. Furthermore, it would answer the question of why the other Red Bull proteges are unable to make the most of the second Red Bull seat.

On the other hand, this would mean that Albon would be out of an F1 seat next season and after an abiding memory that he failed to get close to his team-mate Max Verstappen, it would be a difficult road back to the grid.

So for Albon to remain on the grid would require Gasly to be ousted from Alpha Tauri which has now been closed. However, one rumour that had been floating was that Esteban Ocon could be seized from Renault to Red Bull with Gasly replacing Ocon at Renault. Then Albon to join Alpha Tauri alongside Honda young driver Yuki Tsunoda. This all seems rather far-fetched and would require a team personnel, drivers, sponsors as well as engine suppliers Renault and Honda to put their vested interests to one side for the sake of the deal.

So it appears that Albon’s fate is sealed with either Hulkenberg of Perez likely to replace him. But the team said that it plans to make an announcement at next month’s Turkish GP. That means that he still has one race to set the record straight and put in the performance of a lifetime at Imola. But after struggling with the RB16 all year long, the team will need to decide what is best for the team. After they lost Ricciardo, they may well decide that they need an experienced man alongside Max if they want to challenge Mercedes in the future.