Credits: IMAGO Eibner
In all of his 83 race starts, Alex Albon has only managed to claim podiums on two occasions. Despite driving for three teams, such as Toro Rosso, Red Bull, and Williams, the Thai-British driver has only scored two podiums in 2020 as luck hasn’t favored him. Following the podium draught, Albon has jokingly made a bizarre wish, hoping to break the curse.
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In the recent F1: Beyond The Grid podcast, Albon joked, “We need something. Max and Lewis take each other out, and then Charles and Carlos, or we’ll get a few of them out. It would need something [like this].” Driving for Williams, Albon has a slim chance of claiming a podium in the current season. Although he has come close to scoring points this season, some unlucky events have prevented him from reaching the podium. Therefore, his bizarre wish seems understandable.
Albon’s first podium of his F1 career was in the 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix. The race started with Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly, Kimi Raikkonen, and Romain Grosjean’s collision. Apart from them, Carlos Sainz, Esteban Ocon, Antonio Giovinazzi, Nicholas Latifi, and Kevin Magnussen failed to complete the race. This put Albon in an advantageous position for the P3 finish.
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The second podium came in the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, where Albon finished in a similar P3 position. This race also saw Sergio Perez DNF.
How did Lewis Hamilton jeopardize Alex Albon’s race win and podium finish?
There were at least two more occasions on which Albon could have not just scored the podium but also won the race. But, on both those occasions, Lewis Hamilton crashed into him.
Albon’s tough luck against Hamilton started in Brazil in 2019 when the Thai-British driver collided with the seven-time world champion at Interlagos. While defending his P2 against Hamilton, Albon’s right rear tire touched with the Mercedes driver’s left front tire.
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This sent him spinning off the track, beaching him. Later, in the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix, Hamilton’s contact with the 27-year-old again sent him spinning.
Lewis Hamilton, however, accepted his fault for the collision in Austria. He apologized to Albon after the race and accepted the five-second time penalty by the stewards that sent him to P4 from P2.
