Formula 1 sophomore Alexander Albon requires a more settled car beneath him compared to team-mate Max Verstappen, according to Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner.
Albon has lacked performance and results compared to Verstappen so far in the 2020 campaign, with the Anglo-Thai yet to finish ahead of his team-mate in either qualifying or a race.
Verstappen has taken 95 points, including a victory at Silverstone, to hold second in the standings, while Albon is on 40 points, four positions further back.
Horner admitted that the RB16 has been a tricky car to drive so far this year and that the more experienced Verstappen is more adept at negotiating problems.
Speaking on the ‘F1 Nation’ podcast, Horner said: “Alex is still very young and young in experience, only five races into his second season. We see the potential in him, we see on Sundays his racecraft is very strong, I think it is only a matter of time before it all comes together for him.
“I think our car is a little tricky to drive at the moment over a single lap and I think it is a little bit insecure in certain areas as Max has got the confidence to drive through that.
“Alex needs the car to be a little more settled and I think that will come as we improve the car, and hopefully therefore we’ll see Alex’s Saturday performances continue to improve.”
When asked whether Albon has tried to drive around the issues much like Verstappen, Horner added: “Yes, but he is a very deep thinking driver rather than a seat of the pants driver, so he is trying to understand the car and he is very sensitive to what the car is doing.
“Whereas Max is far more robust in that respect that the DRS stuck open on his qualiy lap in Hungary on the way into Turn 1 and he had a big snap of oversteer, he had to look on the replay and go ‘Oh the DRS was stuck open’, for other drivers that might have been a monumental spin.
“So I think with Alex, it’s time in the seat and it’s getting himself comfortable.”
Discussion about this post