Former Red Bull driver Alex Albon has gone into detail on his relationship with former team-mate Max Verstappen, affirming that he is a very ordinary person off the racetrack.
Albon signed with the Milton Keynes squad midway through the 2019 season to replace Pierre Gasly, who was dropped back to Toro Rosso – now AlphaTauri – following a dreadful half season alongside the Dutchman.
Albon had initially made a promising start in the latter part of that season, but was out-qualified all 17 times by the 24-year-old in 2020.
His two podiums were not enough to keep him at the team following a seventh-placed championship finish – over 100 points adrift of Verstappen.
The 25-year-old details that Verstappen is a very straightforward team-mate to deal with.
“He’s very honest, Max doesn’t do bull****,” he told Formula 1 Magazine.
“He’s very direct. You could say that he is really Dutch!”
Verstappen has now had five team-mates in F1, out-performing Daniel Ricciardo, Gasly and Albon before out-qualifying the Thai-Brit’s replacement – Sergio Perez – 20 times last year as he claimed his maiden world championship.
This might paint the picture of a ruthless and arrogant racer, but Albon maintains that, while the Dutchman is not short on self-credence, he is not at all arrogant.
“He is confident, but certainly not arrogant,” he said.
“He just has confidence in what he does.”
During Lando Norris’ first season in F1 in 2019, he could often be seen playing video games – mainly iRacing – on Twitch with the Red Bull driver, and Albon reveals that he also enjoys gaming sessions with the 20-time race winner.
For him, this exemplifies that Verstappen is a very down-to-earth young man.
“We get along very well. He loves gaming, I also like to play games. So we sometimes play together,” he said.
“He is actually a very ordinary boy, especially when you consider how well-known he is and what he has already achieved. Max is much more normal than many people would think.”
Albon has signed for Williams for the 2022 season alongside Nicholas Latifi, replacing George Russell who has headed to Mercedes.