Retaining Albon the 'smartest' way to continue - Verstappen

  • Published on 15 Nov 2019 13:34
  • comments 0
  • By: Dieter Rencken & Fergal Walsh

Max Verstappen believes that Red Bull has made the "smartest" call in opting to keep Alexander Albon for the 2020 season.

Albon joined Red Bull midway through the 2019 campaign, stepping in for Pierre Gasly, who struggled at the outfit after replacing Daniel Ricciardo. 

Albon has managed to score top-six finishes in every race so far for Red Bull, leaving the energy drink squad to make the call after the US Grand Prix to retain him for a full season next year.

MOREAlbon labels Red Bull 2020 confirmation as 'crazy'Verstappen: Red Bull doesn't need rain to be competitive in Brazil

Speaking about the decision, Verstappen said: “He’s a nice guy. I think for him, the last 12 months have been a bit of a rollercoaster.

“Of course, he’s very laid back, very relaxed and people like him in the team. He’s easy-going, which I think helps. 

"He’s quick, he’s doing his job, he’s getting the points. I think it was the smartest way of continuing.”

Albon 'didn't know' when Red Bull decision would be made

Albon spoke on Thursday about his "short" phone-call with Dr Helmut Marko, who informed him that he had the seat for the 2019 season.

The Thai-British driver says he wasn't sure when the decision was going to be made, but affirmed that his primary focus was on the race weekends. 

"I didn't know when the decision was going to be made," he said. "For me, it was thinking about the races that I had and making sure I was happy with how I was progressing. 

"I think that was an important thing, to show that I am making steps forward. In terms of when I was going to get the call, I knew it was going to happen, but I wasn't stressed when. 

"As I said before many times, I was just focused on the job at hand."

Replies (0)

Login to reply

BE Grand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

BEGrand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

World Championship standings 2023

Show full world champion standings

Test calendar

See full test schedule

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
29 - Mar 2 2024
Bahrain
7 - Mar 9 2024
Saudi Arabia
22 - Mar 24 2024
Australia
5 - Apr 7 2024
Japan
19 - Apr 21 2024
China
3 - May 5 2024
United States of America
17 - May 19 2024
Italy
24 - May 26 2024
Monaco
7 - Jun 9 2024
Canada
21 - Jun 23 2024
Spain
28 - Jun 30 2024
Austria
5 - Jul 7 2024
United Kingdom
19 - Jul 21 2024
Hungary
26 - Jul 28 2024
Belgium
23 - Aug 25 2024
Netherlands
30 - Sep 1 2024
Italy
13 - Sep 15 2024
Azerbaijan
20 - Sep 22 2024
Singapore
18 - Oct 20 2024
United States of America
25 - Oct 27 2024
Mexico
1 - Nov 3 2024
Brazil
22 - Nov 24 2024
United States of America
29 - Dec 1 2024
Qatar
6 - Dec 8 2024
United Arab Emirates
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
29 - Mar 2 2024
7 - Mar 9 2024
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
22 - Mar 24 2024
Australia Albert Park
5 - Apr 7 2024
19 - Apr 21 2024
3 - May 5 2024
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
17 - May 19 2024
24 - May 26 2024
Monaco Monte Carlo
7 - Jun 9 2024
21 - Jun 23 2024
28 - Jun 30 2024
Austria Red Bull Ring
5 - Jul 7 2024
United Kingdom Silverstone
19 - Jul 21 2024
Hungary Hungaroring
26 - Jul 28 2024
23 - Aug 25 2024
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
30 - Sep 1 2024
Italy Monza
13 - Sep 15 2024
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
20 - Sep 22 2024
18 - Oct 20 2024
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
25 - Oct 27 2024
1 - Nov 3 2024
Brazil Interlagos
22 - Nov 24 2024
United States of America Las Vegas Street Circuit
29 - Dec 1 2024
6 - Dec 8 2024
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
See full schedule

Driver profile

  • Country Netherlands
  • Date of b. Sep 30 1997 (28)
  • Place of b. Hasselt (Belgie), Netherlands
  • Weight 70 kg
  • Length 1.8 m
Show full profile

Team profile

Show full profile
show sidebar

Total queries: 5
Total time: 0.25263404846191
timesincestartcallerannotatebtdesc
0.000441
instantiate query log (0Q - total module time: 0.00055599s)
""
0.001002
boot (0Q - total module time: 0.00010395s)
""
0.001108
translation-init (1Q - total module time: 0.00100493s)
""
0.000322820.001777/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Statement.php:189(stopQuery)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/Redirect.php:105(execute)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Entities/Redirect.php:112(findByOrigin)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Redirects.php:108(getRedirectOrFalse)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:115(checkForDBRedirects)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:260(execute)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)
SELECT redirects.id, redirects.origin, redirects.referer FROM redirects WHERE redirects.origin = :origin ORDER BY id
{"origin":"\/en\/news\/f1\/252290\/retaining-albon-the-smartest-way-to-continue-verstappen"}
0.002116
controller::news/f1/252290/retaining-albon-the-smartest-way-to-continue-verstappen (3Q - total module time: 0.09867406s)
""
0.000440840.002864/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Statement.php:189(stopQuery)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/Article.php:389(execute)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:127(findNextArticle)
{"function":"F1T\\Controllers\\{closure}","class":"F1T\\Controllers\\News","object":{"current_page":"news"},"type":"->","args":[]}
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Cache.php:144(call_user_func)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:158(lazyFetch)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:47(action_Index)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:269(dispatch)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:195(_load)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:260(execute)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)
SELECT Articles.ArticleId AS ArticleId, Articles.RewriteUrl AS RewriteUrl, Articles.ArticleType as ArticleType, Articles.Category as Category, Articles.cntnlang AS cntnlang, RacingSeries.RewriteUrl AS RacingSeriesRewriteUrl FROM Articles INNER JOIN RacingSeries ON Articles.RacingSerieId = RacingSeries.RacingSerieId WHERE Articles.cntnlang = :siteLang AND Articles.SiteId = :siteId AND Articles.Activated = 1 AND Articles.PublishDate < :publishDate AND Articles.ArticleType IN (:param0, :param1, :param2) AND Articles.ArticleId > :articleId ORDER BY Articles.ArticleId ASC LIMIT 1
{"siteLang":"en","siteId":"1","publishDate":"2026-02-04 07:30:00","articleId":252290,":param0":"Nieuws",":param1":"LiveRaceReport",":param2":"Liveblog"}
0.059474950.003334/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Statement.php:189(stopQuery)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/Article.php:318(execute)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:128(findPrevArticle)
{"function":"F1T\\Controllers\\{closure}","class":"F1T\\Controllers\\News","object":{"current_page":"news"},"type":"->","args":[]}
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Cache.php:144(call_user_func)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:158(lazyFetch)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:47(action_Index)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:269(dispatch)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:195(_load)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:260(execute)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)
SELECT Articles.ArticleId AS ArticleId, Articles.RewriteUrl AS RewriteUrl, Articles.ArticleType as ArticleType, Articles.Category as Category, Articles.cntnlang AS cntnlang, RacingSeries.RewriteUrl AS RacingSeriesRewriteUrl FROM Articles INNER JOIN RacingSeries ON Articles.RacingSerieId = RacingSeries.RacingSerieId WHERE Articles.cntnlang = :siteLang AND Articles.SiteId = :siteId AND Articles.Activated = 1 AND Articles.PublishDate < :publishDate AND Articles.ArticleType IN (:param0, :param1, :param2) AND Articles.ArticleId < :articleId ORDER BY Articles.ArticleId DESC LIMIT 1
{"siteLang":"en","siteId":"1","publishDate":"2026-02-04 07:30:00","articleId":252290,":param0":"Nieuws",":param1":"LiveRaceReport",":param2":"Liveblog"}
0.000365970.064022/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Connection.php:1323(stopQuery)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Persisters/Entity/BasicEntityPersister.php:750(executeQuery)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Persisters/Entity/BasicEntityPersister.php:768(load)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/EntityManager.php:521(loadById)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/EntityRepository.php:197(find)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:335(find)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:47(action_Index)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:269(dispatch)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:195(_load)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:260(execute)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)
SELECT t0.CmsAccountId AS CmsAccountId_1, t0.CreateDate AS CreateDate_2, t0.AccountName AS AccountName_3, t0.Password AS Password_4, t0.LastName AS LastName_5, t0.FirstName AS FirstName_6, t0.PrivateMail AS PrivateMail_7, t0.F1TodayMail AS F1TodayMail_8, t0.PhoneNumber AS PhoneNumber_9, t0.Address AS Address_10, t0.PostalCode AS PostalCode_11, t0.City AS City_12, t0.BirthDate AS BirthDate_13, t0.JobTitle AS JobTitle_14, t0.FavouriteDriver AS FavouriteDriver_15, t0.FavouriteTeam AS FavouriteTeam_16, t0.Interests AS Interests_17, t0.WorkStartDate AS WorkStartDate_18, t0.WorkingHours AS WorkingHours_19, t0.Disabled AS Disabled_20, t0.LastOnline AS LastOnline_21, t0.RetrievalId AS RetrievalId_22, t0.Notes AS Notes_23 FROM CmsAccounts t0 WHERE t0.CmsAccountId = ?
[140]
0.100797 cacheAble: yes
module:News\Result (0Q - total module time: 0.00016785s)
""
0.100968 cacheAble: yes
module:News\Photos (0Q - total module time: 0.00013304s)
""
0.101103 cacheAble: yes
module:News\Trending (0Q - total module time: 0.00011706s)
""
0.101222 cacheAble: yes
module:News\Reply (1Q - total module time: 0.12507820s)
""
0.107777120.101692/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/CommentVotes.php/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Connection.php:1323(stopQuery)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Query/Exec/SingleSelectExecutor.php:31(executeQuery)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Query.php:325(execute)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/AbstractQuery.php:1212(_doExecute)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/AbstractQuery.php:1166(executeIgnoreQueryCache)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/AbstractQuery.php:901(execute)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/CommentVotes.php:192(getResult)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/CommentVotesManager.php:46(getCommentVotesByVoteIp)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Modules/News/Reply.php:101(getCommentVotesByIP)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ModuleBase.php:115(internalRender)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ModuleBase.php:89(captureOutput)
{"function":"F1T\\{closure}","class":"F1T\\ModuleBase","object":{"_amp":false},"type":"->","args":[]}
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Cache.php:144(call_user_func)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ModuleBase.php:92(lazyFetch)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/ViewRenderer/TwigExtensions/ModuleRenderer.php:35(fetch)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:549(renderModule)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:182(block_mainContent)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:62(displayBlock)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:182(block_content)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:715(displayBlock)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:405(doDisplay)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:378(displayWithErrorHandling)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:45(display)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:405(doDisplay)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:378(displayWithErrorHandling)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:46(display)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:405(doDisplay)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:378(displayWithErrorHandling)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:390(display)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/TemplateWrapper.php:45(render)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php:318(render)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/ViewRenderer/TwigRenderer.php:115(render)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ViewTrait.php:98(render)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ViewTrait.php:79(renderViewFile)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:261(render)
/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)
SELECT c0_.CommentId AS CommentId_0, c1_.Vote AS Vote_1 FROM Comments c0_ INNER JOIN CommentVotes c1_ ON (c1_.CommentId = c0_.CommentId) WHERE c0_.ArticleId = ? AND c1_.VoteIp = ?
[252290,"216.73.216.130"]
0.226306 cacheAble: no
module:Sidebar (0Q - total module time: 0.00048423s)
""
0.226793
sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00001597s)
""
0.226811
sidebar:sidebar-news-read::gpschedule (0Q - total module time: 0.00000191s)
""
0.226814 cacheAble: yes
module:GpSchedule (0Q - total module time: 0.00053906s)
""
0.227357
sidebar:sidebar-news-read::results (0Q - total module time: 0.00000691s)
""
0.227364 cacheAble: yes
module:Results (0Q - total module time: 0.00515199s)
""
0.232523
sidebar:sidebar-news-read::testcalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00000691s)
""
0.232532 cacheAble: yes
module:TestCalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00014305s)
""
0.232677
sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000715s)
""
0.232685
sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000191s)
""
0.232688
sidebar:sidebar-news-read::relatednews (0Q - total module time: 0.00000286s)
""
0.232691 cacheAble: yes
module:RelatedNews (0Q - total module time: 0.00011206s)
""
0.232805
sidebar:sidebar-news-read::whoischatting (0Q - total module time: 0.00000620s)
""
0.232812
sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000286s)
""
0.232816
sidebar:sidebar-news-read::poll (0Q - total module time: 0.00000095s)
""
0.232819 cacheAble: no
module:Poll (0Q - total module time: 0.01768708s)
""
0.250510
sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00001097s)
""
0.250523
sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000191s)
""
0.250525
sidebar:sidebar-news-read::gpcalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00000286s)
""
0.250529 cacheAble: yes
module:GpCalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00020409s)
""
0.250736
sidebar:sidebar-news-read::driver_Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00000477s)
""
0.250742 cacheAble: yes
module:Driver\Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00026584s)
""
0.251011
sidebar:sidebar-news-read::team_Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00000501s)
""
0.251017 cacheAble: yes
module:Team\Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00023198s)
""
0.251251
sidebar:sidebar-news-read::linkedKeywords (0Q - total module time: 0.00000501s)
""
0.251258
sidebar:sidebar-news-read::gpsidebarnavigation (0Q - total module time: 0.00000286s)
""
0.251261 cacheAble: no
module:GpSidebarNavigation (0Q - total module time: 0.00035501s)
""
0.251618 cacheAble: yes
module:Layout\Footer (0Q - total module time: 0.00019288s)
""
0.251814 cacheAble: yes
module:News\Breaking (0Q - total module time: 0.00081396s)
""
0.252632
done
""