Alex Albon Pinpoints Red Bull's Edge Over Rivals McLaren And Mercedes

Saajan Jogia | Aug 18, 2024

May 4, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen (1) leads the start of the F1 Sprint Race at Miami International Autodrome. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports / Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

Former Red Bull driver Alex Albon, who currently drives for Williams, admitted that Red Bull continues to excel in execution, a key factor contributing to its overall competence and superiority. Even as the grid tightens, rival teams have struggled to match this crucial edge of Red Bull's performance.

The 28-year-old Thai-British driver secured a seat with the Milton Keynes outfit from the second half of his rookie season in 2019 until the end of 2020. During that period, he secured two podium finishes before being replaced by Sergio Perez. His time with the team gave him valuable insights into its preparedness to aim for championships.

Fast forward to 2022, the inaugural year of the ground effect era, where Red Bull driver Max Verstappen and Adrian Newey’s design showcased their formidable prowess. This dynamic combination propelled Red Bull to a championship victory and continued their dominance the following year, with the team securing 21 out of 22 Grand Prix wins in 2023.

While 2024 was also expected to follow a similar trend, rival teams such as McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari managed to pose a significant threat to Red Bull's superiority in the first half of the season, causing the team to win 7 of the 14 races thus far. Though it remains in the lead in both championships, the resurgence of the competition is a growing cause for concern.

Albon, after observing the recent Grands Prix, noted that while rival teams have managed to match Red Bull's aerodynamic prowess and overall performance, they still fall short in execution—a skill Red Bull perfected during Mercedes' era of dominance. He told RacingNews365.com:

"Despite everything I still see Red Bull as a very well-executed team.

"I still feel like they haven't lost their edge in terms of execution. Pit stop strategy, generally speaking, is always very good. 

"And they do show you that even with not always having a top car, either if it's Max [Verstappen] or if it's team, they seem to execute things very well.

"I think that's one of the biggest positives Red Bull has always had, is the years where they've been behind Mercedes, they've created a very strong race team, general team.

"And to me, you still see a little bit of that, like that final little bit, they seem to have an edge on [over] other teams."

McLaren trails Red Bull by just 42 points in the Constructors' Championship, a gap Albon attributes to the stability of the regulations. He noted that it was anticipated other teams would eventually close the gap, particularly McLaren, whose MCL38 F1 car stands out as distinctly different from the rest of the field. He added:

"Eventually, people were going to catch up.

"I think that's the great thing about the regulations not changing, is there's enough time for teams to catch up. 

"McLaren, you can just see, their car looks quite different to the other top teams to drive, it just looks a little bit different, and they seem to make it work, which is which is very interesting.

"I've seen people talking about [how] the development of the Red Bull cars just slowed down, because they've got to their peak and they struggle to add more performance to their car.

"I guess you could see, at some point, the limitation - the regulations are limited so you can only do so much."