Hamilton blamed for ‘massively’ denting Albon’s confidence at Red Bull

Albon spent a season-and-a-half at Red Bull before he was dropped at the end of 2020 having failed to match the performances of teammate Max Verstappen. 

The British-born Thai was replaced by Sergio Perez but has been one of the stand-out performers since returning to the F1 grid with Williams in 2022, prompting some to suggest he was let go by Red Bull too soon. 

Red Bull motorsport advisor Marko has pointed to two incidents involving Hamilton that had a negative impact on Albon. 

The first occurred at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix when Hamilton spun Albon out of second place, before a further clash between the pair at the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix denied Albon the chance of fighting for a potential maiden win. 

“Alex, I have to say, was really unlucky,” Marko told the Inside Line podcast.

“In Brazil, he was fighting for second position when Hamilton turned him around.

“Fine, it didn’t help Alex. But he lost his podium.

“And the next, which was more severe, was in Austria, when Alex was fighting for the win when, again, it was turned around by Hamilton.

“That hit his confidence massively… massively.

“Second, or even the win, was on the table. Someone took the glory away. 

“That made it difficult from this moment, his self-confidence was down and we needed someone we knew to fight for the championship, we needed two solid drivers.”