When it comes to being ruthless with their driver line-up, Red Bull Racing have been the best in Formula One since they first entered the sport in 2005.
The former world champions have had some great drivers in their time, thanks chiefly to their heralded young drivers programme.
Though the last few years have shown cracks within this system.
Alex Albon is supposedly in the firing line this season, having been unable to match his prodigious teammate Max Verstappen – who scored a sixth consecutive podium for 2020 at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Albon has only had one non-points finish this season and has been a top-eight finisher otherwise – that one blemish being the Austrian Grand Prix, where he was sent into the gravel while tangling with one Lewis Hamilton while in contention for the race win.
By direct comparison to Verstappen, Albon has not had the greatest run and that’s come down to the volatile nature of the RB16. Overall, it has been a disappointment, especially when Red Bull were set to challenge for the championship this year.
Internally, it appears that the Anglo-Thai driver has the support of his team. The harshest of all taskmasters, Red Bull motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko, even came to the 24-year-old’s defence, saying he is just as quick through fast corners as Verstappen.
“Albon’s performances are perceived worse than they are in reality,” Marko said in an interview with Motorsport.com.
“What is completely overlooked is that in both Silverstone races, he was the fastest man in the second stint – faster than Verstappen. He also proved at the Red Bull Ring that when he gets into his rhythm, he’s absolutely fast.”
Red Bull even brought back the former engineer for seven-time race winner Daniel Ricciardo, Simon Rennie, to further boost their young driver’s confidence and understanding of the difficult car.
That hasn’t stopped the wide external criticism of Albon.
From calls for dumped Red Bull driver Pierre Gasly – who’s been resurgent in 2020 in the low-pressure stable of AlphaTauri to be reinstated to the senior team – to the Milton Keynes team outsourcing a more competitive replacement for Albon, it all seems unnecessary given the core of the team’s problems lie with the car.
Pierre Gasly. (Samo Vidic/Red Bull Content Pool)
After being relegated to fifth at Spa by Esteban Ocon on the final lap, no thanks to an ill strategy call to put the Red Bull on medium tyres, Albon moved into fourth in the drivers’ championship.
The 106-point deficit in the constructors’ championship between juggernauts Mercedes and Red Bull, regardless of the driver in that second car, would still be no closer to beating the world champions without a car consistent enough to do so.
So while gains now need to be made back at base, whatever that looks like over the next two seasons with limited development, Albon himself deserves a break.
The best is yet to come from the driver who earnt his call up to Red Bull 12 months ago and that’ll go hand-in-hand with the car being capable of challenging Mercedes.
Simoc
Guest
Albon is getting all the support he needs at Red Bulland and has no knowledgeable critics. His detractors are lightweight fluff writers and irrelevant to F1. He looked to be close in qualifying at Spa then Verstappen went way quicker at the death. Certainly he'll be expected to be closer or in front at some circuits next season but he has a season less experience than Gasly and most others in F1. His past would suggest he will be expecting to win GPs and may have already if LH hadn't taken him out in a racing incident.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
And there's the problem like you say - because Max is so fast, Red Bull have been looking for a teammate of equal calibre to him and that's nigh on impossible. By all means, Max should be aided to fight the two Mercedes as much as he can at the front, but do not let this come at the detriment of Alex's development as a driver, because that's not going to make things better.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
Over the past few days, I've actually been quite annoyed with myself for not backing Gasly as much as I should have last year. My eyes have been opened to what's actually going on at Red Bull, and it's ridiculous. Like I said in my original comment, I think Helmut Marko and Dietrich Mateschitz have realised far too late because they have nowhere to turn. Their driver programme is in a lull at the moment because it's packed full of young drivers who are far from being eligible for a Super Licence. The fact that people are saying that Albon should go is even more ridiculous when you recognise that his performances are better than those of Gasly, like you too have recognised. I can picture Hulkenberg or Perez in a Red Bull but now is not the time for that. Albon needs nurturing. It's a shame what happened to Gasly last year but Red Bull must now focus on how they can make things right now and in the future in their handling of Albon.
Dexter The Hamster
Roar Rookie
I concur Jawad. Think he has shown a fair bit of talent in that car, and with a bit of luck would have a couple of podiums. Its tough against Max, the whole set up at RB revolves around him, and Max is a nightmare teammate, quick on Saturday, and then again on Sunday.
Dexter The Hamster
Roar Rookie
Agree. While I like Gasly, and think he will get another shot one day, Albon has shown a bit more in the RB car than Gasly did. Needs a bit of time. There has been noise about replacing him with a Hulk or Perez, but that is an admission that their young driver program is not working at the moment, think they will be reluctant to do that.
scott
Guest
spot on. With Mercedes car the best the 2nd RB car can be is 4th, which is exactly where Alex is. There is no one else driving in F1 who would be higher than 4th in that car so give him some space.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
Red Bull are supporting Albon because they have no other choice. They messed it up with Gasly and now they have exhausted their driver pool. Albon is simply struggling in an environment which revolves around the boy wonder (or rather man wonder because he's 23 this month) Max Verstappen. Verstappen can also get more out of what he's got than Albon can and so the set up of the car also revolves around Max. Albon has shown many flashes of brilliance and there will be plenty more to come. He just needs time and support. Giving him a decent strategy would be a nice start. A better package will help too. Red Bull were too complacent on that, whilst Mercedes were far from complacent. Albon could have had two podiums by now, for goodness sake! And he's made many a good drive up through the field too. So he's more than capable of delivering good results. Patience is key. And Helmut Marko and Dietrich Mateschitz have finally realised that, probably because they've run out of people to sack/demote.