Alexander Albon has described his call-up to the Red Bull team "surreal", having only raced in Formula 1 since the beginning of the season.
Albon, who himself was originally dropped by Red Bull before he made it to F1, joined Toro Rosso after Pierre Gasly was promoted for the 2019 season and Red Bull had very few options for the second seat at STR alongside the returning Daniil Kvyat – another driver dropped and re-hired by Red Bull.
As if that wasn't surreal enough for Albon, who looked set to compete in Formula E rather than F1, just 12 races later he's been promoted to the top team alongside Max Verstappen and is understandably thankful for the opportunity.
"Surreal to have been given this massive opportunity [by] Red Bull Racing," he wrote on his social media.
"Can’t thank you enough for believing in me and making this possible. It’s a big jump into the deep end, but I’ve got my swimming shorts on!
"Thanks to all the guys at Toro Rosso, especially [team principal] Franz Tost for the massive opportunity in F1 and never-ending support throughout my first year!
"Now to focus for my first race with the team in Spa."
Albon's promotion doesn't guarantee him a seat next year, with Red Bull insisting it will use the next nine races to evaluate his performance before making a decision on its 2020 driver line-up.
