Just In: TOP 10 RED BULL F1 DRIVERS RANKED…..
Five drivers’ and four constructors’ titles headline a CV that includes 75 world championship grand prix wins, enough for sixth on the all-time list behind Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, Williams and Lotus.
It also has a major junior driver programme, which has launched the careers of many successful drivers, including Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.
For this list of top 10 F1 drivers, we’ve taken into account the amount of success the racers scored with Red Bull and its sister team Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri, the impact they had and the circumstances of their time within the Red Bull fold. It doesn’t count their achievements at other teams.
Sebastien Buemi or Jaime Alguersuari could have taken this spot. Both had their moments at Toro Rosso and were part of the programme longer than Albon, with Buemi also going on to serious achievements in the World Endurance Championship and Formula E.
But Albon, with a surprise and late call-up, made it into the lead Red Bull squad – and scored podiums once there.
Albon was on the verge of an FE programme when Daniel Ricciardo leaving Red Bull triggered a shuffle that put Pierre Gasly alongside Max Verstappen and Albon into Toro Rosso, as teammate to Daniil Kvyat.
The Anglo-Thai proved capable of bouncing back from crashes and showed flashes of brilliance, including a drive to sixth place in the German GP, his first experience of an F1 car in the wet.
With Gasly struggling, Albon was promoted to the Red Bull squad for September’s Belgian GP, just his 13th F1 start. Although he too failed to get close to Verstappen, Albon didn’t get as mired in the midfield as much as Gasly and did enough to keep the drive for 2020.
Sadly, he wasn’t able to do enough in his second F1 season. There were two podiums, but Albon was again too far away from Verstappen and was rarely close enough to help Red Bull with strategic options. He was dropped at the end of 2020, though Red Bull placed him in the DTM ahead of Albon’s F1 return with Williams for 2022.