Williams Racing driver Alex Albon has opened up on his year out of Formula 1 in 2021, after he was sensationally dumped by Red Bull Racing for Sergio Pérez.
With no F1 seats available, Red Bull put Albon in the DTM championship last season, where the Thai driver fell in love with the Nordschleife.
The 13-mile circuit nicknamed ‘The Green Hell’, became an instant hit with Albon and fellow Red Bull junior driver Liam Lawson, who also competed in DTM last year.
Albon’s only win in the championship came on the Nurburgring GP sprint circuit, which is next to ‘The Green Hell’.
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The full Nordschleife includes the GP circuit, with the pair being connected at the end of the GP track.
The Grand Prix circuit hosted F1 in 2020, as a replacement race during the Covid-impacted season.
Albon believes an F1 race at ‘The Green Hell’ could be possible in the future, something he labels as “perfect”.
Albon and Lawson got the chance to drive a selection of cars around the famous circuit and instantly fell in love with it.
They adored the venue so much that they considered buying a house there, purely so that they could lap the 13-mile circuit every day.
Auto Motor und Sport asked Albon in an interview what venue stood out the most for him whilst in the DTM, his response would come as no surprise.
“The Lausitzring was really super-cool, we drove the oval version,” Albon said.
“I already knew some of the other tracks from my junior days. The best was the Nordschleife. We drove the grand prix circuit in DTM, but Liam [Lawson] and I spent every available minute on the Nordschleife.
“We initially banged around in rental cars. I had a Citroën C3, he had a Volkswagen Polo. At some point Red Bull gave us two Porsche GT3 RSs. That was really brilliant. I could hardly believe how much fun it was.
“Liam and I have even considered buying a house near the Nordschleife so we can drive our own cars every day.”
F1 hasn’t raced on the Nordschleife since 1976, where the late Niki Lauda suffered a near-fatal accident.
Changes would be needed for F1 to ever return, with insufficient run-offs being a prime problem due to the high speeds seen at the circuit.
The circuit’s operators have said that they will “never completely reject the idea” of hosting F1 again; however, Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff believes it would be “much too dangerous”.
Albon is all for a return to the ‘The Green Hell’, with the Williams driver even suggesting how it could be done.
“It would be perfect,” said the 26-year-old.
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“Of course, we would need hard tyres that don’t overheat so quickly.
“But otherwise it wouldn’t be so complicated, I think.
“We would have to think about something for the Carousel. And then DRS on the whole long straight, please.”