Albon grateful: 'So I owe Russell a lot of beers'

Alexander Albon will replace George Russell at the Williams team from next season. The British Thai will be active in the DTM in 2021 after he was forced to leave Red Bull Racing after last year, but a quick return is now a fact. Williams is willing to take the plunge with him.

Albon says he owes the deal in part to Russell. The young Brit, who will move to Mercedes next year, has known Albon for a long time and knows what he is capable of. Russell put in a good word and partly because of that Jost Capito's formation has chosen the current test and reserve driver of Red Bull.

"So I owe George a lot of beers," Albon laughed in conversation with the likes of Formule1.nl. Williams hope to make the move to midfield for good in 2022. New regulations will be introduced in the premier class of motorsport and that should give Albon and teammate Nicholas Latifi the chance to drive in the points regularly.

Albon and IndyCar

Albon is very happy with his return to Formula 1, but a move to the United States was initially not completely ruled out either. It was the best option for Albon if the F1 adventure would fail. He even paid a visit to IndyCar already. “I went to Indianapolis to watch the racing and I liked it. I obviously had a chat with Romain as well, and it looked exciting. But my priority was always F1," he concluded to Autosport.com .