Alexander Albon will race in the DTM Series in 2021 alongside his reserve driver role with Red Bull Racing, with the Anglo-Thai driver being joined in the championship by Red Bull Junior Liam Lawson.
Twenty-four-year-old Albon, who lost his Red Bull seat to Sergio Pérez for the 2021 Formula 1 season after a lacklustre 2020 season, will race in DTM in select races that do not clash with his reserve driver duties. He finished seventh in the standings last season, scoring two podium finishes in the Tuscan and Bahrain Grand Prix, but will serve as reserve driver this year.
Eighteen-year-old Lawson, a multiple winner in the FIA Formula 3 championship in 2020, will also join the grid for the full season, with the driver who will race when Albon cannot to be announced at a later date. Lawson raced for Hitech Grand Prix and finished fifth in the final standings, taking three wins along the way at the Red Bull Ring, Silverstone and the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello.
“The DTM with a high-class field and GT3 sports cars is an interesting platform and a real challenge, both for successful race drivers like Alex Albon as for our Red Bull junior driver Liam Lawson,” said Dr. Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s motorsport consultant.
Gerhard Berger, the boss of DTM who is overseeing the championships transition into GT3 mahinery in 2021, says attracting the likes of Albon and Lawson is great news for the series.
“Formula 1 drivers like Alex Albon, DTM stars like three-time champion René Rast, GT professionals and young talents like Liam Lawson – that is a high-class driver mix the way I would like it for the 2021 DTM season,” said Berger.
“It is also a perfect fit that ex-Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button has already submitted an entry for the DTM with his team.
“My big goal is 20 cars with at least five brands, strong drivers and a battle for the title that goes down to the wire, the final race.”
