Scuderia Toro Rosso rookie Alexander Albon is positive ahead of his first outing at the Red Bull Ring in Formula 1, after not having the best of weekends when he was driving there last year in Formula 2.
“I had an average weekend here last year in Formula 2 as I finished fifth in both races. It’s a track with very few corners, most of them high speed, which means that every one of them is very important. It’s a technical track in the sense you really have to get everything right.
“It’s complicated with a lot of elevation changes, which is not easy, but it does make for good racing. There’s plenty of overtaking opportunities, especially with the downhill sections where you can pass if you get your braking right.” said the 23-year-old.
Albon added that the layout of the track helps to mix things up, giving some variety to the race.
“With three long straights, the slipstream effect is really big here. Because the rhythm of the track is long straight-tight corner, long straight-tight corner, what happens is that it produces good racing, because you are not stuck in dirty air and can follow the car in front much more closely, which means you can have a good fight, without having to hang back because of the dirty air.”
The Austrian Grand Prix is a home race for both Toro Rosso, and their main sister team, Red Bull Racing. As such, Albon is confident the team will have plans to mark the occasion.
“It’s a nice track, set in a really cool area. I love the mountain setting and all the greenery. It’s a home race for us as part of the Red Bull family, so I want to do well there and I’m sure they’re planning lots of fun activities for us four Red Bull drivers to take part in over the weekend.”
