Toto Wolff: “I would never block someone like Alex Albon”

© Jiri Krenek for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner has suggested that Toto Wolff could “block” Alex Albon’s 2022 Formula 1 return, but the Austrian says it will not be the case.

Christian Horner said he is trying to find a 2022 seat for Red Bull’s junior driver Alex Albon. The Thai-British driver replaced Pierre Gasly at Red Bull in the middle of the 2019 season and continued to drive for the team throughout 2020.

However, Red Bull was not satisfied with him, so they replaced his with Sergio Perez for 2021. Now, even though Red Bull has four seats in Formula 1 available (two with the main team and two with AlphaTauri), Horner is trying to find a spot for Albon in a different team.

Williams has shown some interest in Albon, but as a Mercedes affiliated team, there’s a possibility that Mercedes’ Formula E driver (and the reserve driver for the F1 team) Nyck de Vries could get the spot.

Because of this Horner suggested that Toto Wolff could “block” Albon in favour of de Vries, failing to take into account that he himself doesn’t want to give his young driver one of the four spots his team has available.

Nevertheless, Wolff said he would not block Albon.


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“I guess at the moment it revolves around Alex Albon who, as Christian says, deserves a seat,” the Austrian said.

“He is a really good kid, and he is probably the main protagonist in the… [musical] chairs. I would never block someone like Alex Albon; he’s a fantastic guy, personality is great.

“I was personally sad to see him going [in 2020], and if he has a chance in a Formula 1 car I think that’s the right thing to do.

“But equally, maybe Nyck has. So we’ll have to look at the open spaces at Alfa and at Williams and try to find a solution.”

Wolff later added he would be happy to help Albon if Red Bull would release him from his junior driver contract.

“It’s tricky to have a 100 per cent Red Bull driver on a Mercedes power unit, so I’m happy to work with him as long as they set him free from his Red Bull contract.”

Asked how likely it is for de Vries to get a seat for 2022, Wolff said he wasn’t sure.

“I don’t know. I think the great thing with Nyck is that he has two options.




“He has the guaranteed seat in Formula E which is a really tough championship, and on the other side there’s maybe 50/50 chance that he will be in a Formula 1 car.”

The Austrian also explained de Vries’ status as far as Formula 1 is concerned.

“We are supporting Nyck, obviously. He is in talks with Williams to get the seat there, so there are quite some balls in the air.

“But Nyck is a free agent. He is a Mercedes works driver in Formula E and I will never stand in Nyck’s way to drive in Formula 1.

“We have no management contract with him, neither do we have an option of taking him back and therefore Nyck can drive in any team,” concluded Mercedes’ team boss.

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