Alex Albon says Red Bull is now “the same as any other team” for him in contractual terms, with his newest deal with his current Formula 1 team Williams making him fully independent from his previous employer.
Albon, who drove for Red Bull for a season and a half after his mid-season promotion from Toro Rosso and was then its reserve driver in 2021, was “released” by the Milton Keynes outfit to enable his Williams move for this year – but the team stressed it “retained a relationship with him that includes future options”.
But Albon – who has a Red Bull logo on his helmet even as a Williams driver – suggested there would be no contractual ties left to speak of beyond 2022, with Williams having retained him on what was described on as a “multi-year contract”.
Asked whether he may yet retain some sort of branding for the energy drink giant, Albon said this was “a conversation to have” – but everything he said beyond that suggested any such arrangement would be in the realms of personal sponsorships rather than any sort of professional affiliation.
“I feel like now, it’s kind of [that I am] definitely a Williams driver going from next year onwards,” he said.
“But of course I still stay close with Red Bull just because of what they’ve helped me with from the very beginning of my career. I still have a very close relationship with them, but let’s say going into next year that’s me on my own, my bag packed.”
Pushed subsequently on whether this meant he was definitively not a Red Bull driver being loaned out, he said: “Precisely. I’m a Williams driver.”
In its main F1 team, Red Bull has Sergio Perez contracted until the end of 2024 and reigning champion Max Verstappen all the way through 2028.
The end date of Perez’s deal, by which point he will be approaching age 35, would seem like a logical potential opportunity for Albon to make a bid at returning to the Red Bull fold – but Albon significantly played down any plans for a future reunion.
“I’d say that Red Bull is the same as any other team [for me now],” he said. “There’s always an option on any driver, at any given time – well, ‘given time’, before the contract ends. That’s how it is.
“Obviously I have a strong relationship with Red Bull, just purely from when I was 12 years old [in karting]. I still get on very well with everyone there. But that’s separate to now, in the way that, yes, I am a Williams driver by myself.”
The notable previous instance of a Red Bull loanee was that of Carlos Sainz, who was given to Renault for a season and a half – but with Red Bull retaining the option to call him up to its main outfit.
That option was never acted upon, but its mere existence was widely cited as a factor in Sainz being moved aside by Renault in favour of Daniel Ricciardo for 2019.
Asked by The Race whether it was a boon not to have any sort of on-loan status attached, Albon said: “Especially if we’re doing more long-term contracts, it doesn’t make sense to be on loan, anything like that.
“The future with Williams is beyond a year, it’s looking into that partnership and really trying to get the team to move up the grid. And to do that you really need to be ingrained in the team, and fully focus towards that.
“And that’s not to say that I wasn’t this year, of course I was, but it’s nice to be a complete bubble where we are destined together and pushing together. As I said, it’s not just something for a year but really beyond that and really focusing on the development of the car.”
