Red Bull director Helmut Marko has weighed in on talk that Williams driver Alex Albon could return to the team. Albon previously raced for the Bulls in 2019 and 2020 before they dropped him for Sergio Perez.
However, journalist Joe Saward recently reported that they had made an ‘attractive offer’ to the Thai driver to make a comeback for the 2026 season. That year will mark the beginning of a new era in F1 with significant changes to the regulations.
Speaking to OE24, Marko has now offered his take on the noise around Albon. The Thai driver graduated from junior team Toro Rosso to replace the underperforming Pierre Gasly midway through 2019, but didn’t do enough the following year to keep his drive.
Now, it’s his replacement Perez who’s under pressure as he approaches the end of his contract. Perez finished a record 290 points behind Max Verstappen in last year’s championship but has made a solid start to 2024 with three runner-up finishes in four races.
Significantly, Verstappen’s future isn’t entirely certain either. The Dutchman is the subject of strong interest from Mercedes, who will lose Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari at the end of the year, and may seek a way out of his contract if he sees a better chance of winning elsewhere from 2026 onwards.
Helmut Marko on chances of Alex Albon Red Bull return
OE24 put it to Marko that Red Bull team principal Christian Horner wants to convince the team’s Thai shareholders of Albon’s title-winning credentials. The 28-year-old has rebuilt his reputation at Williams, almost single-handedly hauling them to seventh in the championship last year – their best showing since 2017.
Marko, however, refused to be drawn on the story. He simply reiterated that Albon’s Williams deal runs until the end of next year, though that wouldn’t preclude a move for 2026.
“For that to happen, Albon would have to sit in our car,” he said. “But he has a contract until the end of 2025.”
Has Alex Albon won a race in F1?
Albon has now started 85 races in his career, but hasn’t yet managed to stand on the top step of the podium. Of all the drivers on the grid, only Lando Norris (108), Lance Stroll (147), Kevin Magnussen (167) and Nico Hulkenberg (207) have competed in more Grands Prix without winning a single one.
Albon has at least finished in the top three on two occasions. The first of those was the 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix – a race that saw eight drives retire – and the second was the Bahrain Grand Prix towards the end of the campaign.
Away from those highlight moments, Albon struggled to extract the maximum from his Red Bull car. He scored 105 points across 17 events in 2020, less than half teammate Verstappen managed (214).
He also finished outside the points at five rounds, including a three-race run between the Eifel and Emilia Romagna Grands Prix that may have sealed his fate. But four years on, it seems he may have unfinished business with the reigning world champions.
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