Albon Reveals 'Best Piece Of Advice' He Ever Got In F1

Wednesday, 21 February 2024 at 02:15

Alex Albon shared the best piece of advice he has been given throughout his career in Formula 1.

The Williams F1 driver has been in F1 since 2019, and until the beginning of the 2024 season, he has completed four full seasons in the sport.

The 27-year-old was off to a rocky start as an F1 driver when he struggled with performance during his first two years at Red Bull. He found himself without a seat in an F1 car for season 2021, so Albon had a lot of time to rethink what he did wrong and what he might have done better.

He naturally received lots of advice, but there was one specific piece of advice that helped the Thai driver turn his career around. He said on High-Performance podcast:

"The best piece of advice I got given, which was at the start of F1 career, was by a team boss called Franz Tost."

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Franz Tost is a former AlphaTauri/ Toto Rosso (now known as RB) team principal who retired at the end of the most recent season - 2023.

Throughout his career, he worked with many talented drivers that we know today in F1, like Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz, and Pierre Gasly, for example.

"He was talking to me about F1 when I was a rookie and he said 'Alex, if there's one thing you need to learn about F1, it's to don't give a f**k'"

Albon admitted he didn't really understand the device throughout his time in Toto Rosso and Red Bull, even though it was rather simple.

"It sounds so simple, it doesn't sound that deep, but it's so true. I didn't really understand it until I went through the tough times. That's when we talk about this putting yourself first and being selfish."

Albon was under immense pressure at Red Bull because he was underperforming compared to Verstappen and could not get out of the negative loop. He only started understanding the advice once he was out of F1 in 2021. Albon added:

"That's when I really started to understand what he meant. Because, at the time, it was like, 'I don't really give a f**k,' but actually, I do. I think I cared too much at the beginning."

"It was strange for a team boss to say that because, at the end of the day, he wants you to care about the team; he wants you to care about the image of the team, but he wasn't like that. He said, 'You put yourself first,' and then that's it."