2016 Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg has advised Alex Albon to return to Red Bull to replace the under-pressure Sergio Perez.
Albon was promoted to Red Bull in place of Pierre Gasly midway through his rookie F1 campaign in 2019, but the Thai-British driver was eventually dropped at the end of the following year in favor of Perez.
However, Perez has struggled immensely in his third season with the Austrian team, currently 209 points behind teammate Max Verstappen.
Meanwhile, Albon has since rebuilt his career at Williams, scoring all 23 points for Grove in 2023, leading Rosberg to call him the ideal choice to replace Perez as early as next year.
However, the German driver admitted that Albon’s contract situation with Williams would pose a potential obstacle if Red Bull tried to bring him back to their motorsport team alongside Verstappen. “Logan Sargeant [Albon’s Williams teammate] is one of those drivers who is struggling and really needs to prove himself, but he’s made so many mistakes, so to be honest, I think he It will be difficult to keep this seat in the near future.” next year, especially because Albon is doing a phenomenal job,” Rosberg told Sky F1.
“Albon would also be a dream candidate for parent team Red Bull next year to replace Sergio Perez but unfortunately, as Helmut Marko said, Albon is tied to a long-term contract at Williams.”
Red Bull advisor Marko again hinted that Perez could be sidelined unless his performance improves after another poor showing in Qatar.
The Mexican failed to progress to Q3 for the eighth time this year before his race was affected by three penalties for breaking track limits, leaving him 10th.
Perez only collected 5 points in the previous three weekend races, helping Lewis Hamilton 30 points ahead of second-place Red Bull in the rankings.
Despite being beaten by Verstappen, Albon said earlier this year that he would not turn down the chance to test himself again if given the chance. The 27-year-old has put his name in the conversation for a potential front-runner position by impressively bouncing back from a nightmare spell at Red Bull to spearhead Williams’ recovery effort.
Thanks to Albon’s efforts, Williams is on track to achieve its best performance in the Manufacturers’ Championship since 2017. The British team currently sits in seventh place, seven points ahead of Alfa Romeo.
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