Alex Albon's Tuscan GP Podium

Alex Makes Mugello Memories With Maiden Podium

The Bull claims his first podium and makes history for his home country.

On Sunday at the Tuscan Grand Prix Alex put his name in the history books when he became the first-ever driver from Thailand to stand on a Formula One podium.

There has only been one other driver from Thailand in the history of F1. That was Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh, who raced for four years in the 1950s and was only able to score a career best of P4. Anyway, back to the man of the moment…

Alex is very proud of his Thai heritage and its culture and was beaming with pride when he stepped on the podium and saw his country’s flag up there for the first time in the sport’s 70-year history. “I’m proud to wave the flag for everyone in Thailand that has been supporting me throughout my career.,” said Alex after the race. “It’s very special to see the Thai flag on the podium and also to be the first driver to do that.”

Alex has a huge following In Thailand and he hopes that his success proves to people that they can achieve their goals, and reach the top of motorsport – or their chosen career. “I would love Thai people to see that they can compete at the very top. And that’s not just as drivers, it’s also mechanics, engineers, trainers. There are so many jobs you can do in Formula One and it would be amazing to see more and more Thai and Asian people interested and taking part in motorsport. I hope results like on Sunday can provide that inspiration” he explained.

The First Thai Driver To Ever Stand On An F1 Podium

With last Sunday his 30th start in Formula One, it’s fair to say Alex has been unlucky in the past when getting close to that maiden podium. But his self belief, and the belief in him from the Team shows it’s been a long time coming. So now it’s happened, that feeling must feel all the bit sweeter, but Alex knows he could’ve won some silverware before now. “I would like to say it could’ve, and should’ve, happened sooner, but to get it the way we did was nice. It wasn’t an easy race, we had to fight for it and it took some overtakes on the track to get it.”

Two red flags, three starts and only 12 cars crossing the finish line, it was a crazy race and must have been draining for the drivers, but what was the hardest thing about the race for Alex? “It’s tricky when you have two red flags and three race starts. It’s difficult to get the rhythm, you’re in and out of the car the whole time. What made it harder was that our starts weren’t great, we were struggling to get off the line. But we had the pace for third throughout, but because of our starts we were out of position so we had to fight back.”

Even though it’s only his second season, Alex is already getting a nickname for himself for the way he attacks on the track: Mr Round The Outside. Now you can’t choose your nickname, but it suits the Thai driver, even though he’s not committed to the name yet. “It sounds like a dance move. I don’t know – if the inside was free, I’d take it. People defend, so I have to go around the outside. It’s not really [always been my style], I’d say it’s a Red Bull thing; the car’s good on the brakes so we can use that to our advantage pretty well. I mean, the tracks we’ve been going to have also been pretty nice for those kind of moves too.”

After the race, Alex could be heard on the radio thanking the Team and saying: “Thanks for sticking by me.” After the race and when the dust had settled, he expanded on what he meant. “I just wanted to thank the guys for supporting me since day one. It’s been a long and difficult year so far, even though things have been getting better, the results didn’t show that. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone. The Team have been working hard trying to get the car in a better window for me and make me feel comfortable. And of course, Monza wasn’t a good race for us, so to bounce back the way we did shows the courage and determination from everyone.”

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