The challenge of emulating Verstappen in the same car

No Formula 1 driver ever has an easy time if they want to do well, even when they get their hands on the best car. But there are occasions in every driver's career when the challenges can come thick and fast.

Alex Albon has been hit with a double whammy this season that few drivers would be especially envious of. First, he's going up against a team-mate in Max Verstappen who is in the best form of his career and leaving no stone unturned in his quest to take the fight to Mercedes. On top of that, Albon has been handed a very tricky Red Bull RB16, which has been hampered by aerodynamic imbalances that have left both its drivers struggling at times.

The combination of those two factors have triggered some frustrating afternoons for Albon, including last weekend in Russia where he was at a loss to explain the 1.1 seconds difference to his team-mate in qualifying.

But Albon is not the sort of person to roll out a list of excuses about why things have not always clicked. Nor is he someone who would be at pains to point out that his often strong Sunday performances should cancel out any of the troubles he has had in qualifying.

Instead, as Red Bull fully well knows from working with the Thai driver since last year, Albon is a hard worker who understands that only effort and determination will get him to the place he wants to be.

Albon has the speed, it's why Red Bull picked him in the first place. His 2020 problem is that he has not got a car in which he has total confidence. And in situations, like qualifying, where having such faith that the rear end is not going to bite, that can make all the difference.

"It's hard to really pinpoint truthfully" explains Albon, as he discusses the situation he has faced this season with Autosport. "I just want more confidence.

"I think for Max, he's on the limit all the way through the corner. And he's definitely not afraid of it moving around on him. You can watch a qualifying lap of Max and you can see how he's hustling it.

PLUS: Why time in running out on Red Bull's "big goal" for Verstappen

"A quick car doesn't necessarily mean it's a comfortable car. You've got to be able to use it and be on the limit of where the car needs be set to, to get the most from it. So it's a compromise" Alex Albon

"Me, getting up to speed with that and being on limit of the car: that's what I need. It's that feeling of being able to be just sliding it in every corner throughout the whole phase. But it's not like a big thing there here or there, it's just a global feeling of being confident in the car.

"And of course qualifying will always make it a bit trickier because you've got light fuel, and sticky tyres. When it comes to race day, you're not pushing always 100%. It's more about tyre management, and keeping the car without destroying the tyre."

There is no easy solution for a team and driver to plot their way out of a situation like Albon is in. If you simply change the set-up to make the car more comfortable, so the driver's confidence is lifted, then that more often than not simply results in you losing lap time.

The challenge therefore is in making Albon quicker without taking away the speed of the car.

"You've got to find a middle ground," adds Albon. "A quick car doesn't necessarily mean it's a comfortable car. You've got to be able to use it and be on the limit of where the car needs be set to, to get the most from it. So it's a compromise.

"And it's just time in the car, really. I know we're midway through the season now, but it's still a relatively new feeling in the team with the car.

"Max has been here for what, five years now. He's kind of been able to develop and have a driving style around it, where of course for me it is still figuring it out, and still learning and working with my engineers just to exploit it and get the most out of it."

Albon has made progress though, and things were helped when Red Bull brought in the vastly experienced Simon Rennie to take over as his race engineer. Rennie's knowledge of the inner workings of the team, and how to extract the most from Red Bull's car concept, have been a boost.

PLUS: Why Albon isn't the biggest scapegoat at Red Bull

"I'd say experience wise, Simon brings a lot, especially with radio communication and things like that," Albon says. "He is really on the ball with that. He obviously has experience and he knows the people here as well in terms of whether it's Rocky [Guillaume Rocquelin, head of race engineering] or Pedals [chief engineer, Paul Monaghan].

"It's a good environment here at the team. There's a lot of support here, and there's a high positive morale constantly, which is nice."

Despite the difficulties of Sochi, which the team put down to Albon's sensitivities being exacerbated by the nature of the track, progress is being made. In qualifying he has been getting closer (again putting Russia aside), and then of course there was the confidence-boosting podium at Mugello.

Even so, Albon's difficulties, allied to Red Bull's history of not seeming to have much patience with young drivers if they don't shine immediately, has inevitably led to some questioning whether or not he is the right fit for the team.

But almost all of that negative talk was taking place outside of the factory walls. The mindset and messages within were of understanding the bigger picture around Albon, and the positives of his involvement that are not so obvious to onlookers.

Monaghan was clear earlier this year that Albon's feedback, and the way he was able to talk through how the car performed on each corner, was "most impressive". Plus Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko, never one to hold back if he was not happy, bigged up the way that Albon can be as quick as Verstappen in high speed stuff.

PLUS: How Red Bull's other 2020 star has made Marko "really happy"

Albon said recently that he did not read any of the media - so was not aware of the public backing he had been given. However, he has never seen anything but full support from within Milton Keynes.

Above all else, having a Verstappen benchmark in any type of corner is no bad thing. Sure, a team-mate being a few tenths up the road each Saturday is not an ideal situation; but equally it can be seen as an opportunity

"It's important to not focus on the noise and really look at the people inside," he said. "Of course, it hasn't been the smoothest year. But the support has always been there since the very beginning.

"I know the team want me to do well. And of course I want to do well myself. I feel that and because you feel that, it means a lot.

"It feels like you're both working together to get the car to feel like you can be aggressive, like you can push and get the confidence in it. And that's just been kind of the process the whole year."

Beyond ignoring the media, Albon is also not somebody to get too carried by soundbites. Marko's line about him being a match for Verstappen in high-speed corners is good to hear, but the reality of F1 is that more lap time is won and lost by doing better in the slower corners.

"I'd say high speed definitely is strong for me, let's say it like that," says Albon, when asked about that Marko comment. "I think you can see it on tracks like Mugello or Silverstone: they are stronger than other circuits. But it's not like a consistent place, or type of corner, that stands out.

"And to put it bluntly, at high speed, you're going through the corner so quickly. You don't lose as much time when you go through there, if that makes sense. Low speed, you spend more time in it. So, the sensitivity of losing time or getting time is more."

Above all else, having a Verstappen benchmark in any type of corner is no bad thing. Sure, a team-mate being a few tenths up the road each Saturday is not an ideal situation, but equally it can be seen as an opportunity.

Asked if he felt being Verstappen's team-mate was a blessing or a pain, Albon said: "It is both because you're obviously against him as one of, if not, the quickest guy out on the track.

"He's on the limit all the time, from FP1 to the race, so of course you're always going to have a tough time to be up against him. But at the same time, the way I see it is you've got pretty much the best data as well to look at.

"I am experienced in the sense that I've done a year now, but in the global sense of it, I'm still learning and I'm still getting up to speed. So to be able to look over and see where Max is quick and how he gets his lap time, I mean it's very good as a racing driver to be able to see that and improve yourself on that."

And it's Albon's eyes-open attitude to work, the acceptance of needing to understand what he needs to do better so he can start 'hustling' the RB16, that is key to him unlocking what Red Bull knows he has within him.