The story of Alex Albon so far

The 2022 season will mark Alex Albon’s third season in Formula One – but his journey to the top has required perseverance, patience and positivity.

Born in London during the spring of ‘96, the Thai-British driver developed a love for all things motorsport at a very young age.

Alex’s journey started at the age of eight, getting behind the wheel of Honda Cadet class karts before quickly rising through the ranks. His elevation and success came hand in hand, never finishing outside the top three in any championship in which he competed between 2006 and 2011.

Numerous championships came at both a British and European level, including the CIK-FIA World Cup and the CIK-FIA European Championship, both in the KF3 category, and come the year 2012, Alex graduated into single-seater cars.

After several seasons in Formula Renault, his journey through the junior formula really began to gather momentum in 2015 when he stepped up to the Formula 3 European Championship, finishing seventh in the overall standings thanks to five visits to the podium.

Next was GP3 and a season-long battle with Charles Leclerc which saw the Monegasque driver come out on top, with Alex as runner-up after four victories and seven podium finishes.

Formula Two was next on the agenda, and, after a steady 2017 season that brought with it two podiums, he switched from ART Grand Prix to DAMS the following year and partnered a certain Nicholas Latifi.

After four wins and eight podiums, the battle for the title went right down to the final round in Abu Dhabi, where Alex ultimately finished behind only Lando Norris and champion George Russell.

The top two had already secured drives in F1 for the coming season and it looked like Alex would miss out on a spot. Formula E looked the likely destination and he planned to stick with the DAMS team to race in the all-electric series but at the eleventh hour, a familiar face offered him a seat at the pinnacle of motorsport.

During his debut season in single-seaters, Alex had joined the Red Bull Junior Team only to later be released. They kept track of the Thai-British driver's progress and drafted him back into their stable seven years later to drive for Scuderia Toro Rosso for 2019.

After just 12 races and several eye-catching performances in F1, Alex was offered a promotion to Red Bull Racing, where he remained for the rest of that campaign, ending the year by winning the FIA’s Rookie of the Year award.

He was retained for 2020 and secured third-place finishes at both the Tuscan and Sakhir Grands Prix – in doing so he became the first driver to score an F1 podium whilst racing under the Thai banner.

The 2021 season brought change and Alex was named Test and Reserve Driver and combined his work in Milton Keynes with a full campaign in DTM. He finished sixth in the overall standings, with the standout moment being a fine lights-to-flag victory at the Nürburgring.

September 2021 saw Alex lock in the next step in his career, joining Williams Racing for 2022. Just like in his F2 days, he will team up with Nicholas as together they set their sights on tackling this new era in Formula One.