2020 was a mixed year for Alex Albon. Despite scoring his first and second podiums in F1, the Thai driver finished a lowly 7th in the championship and ended up a whopping 109 points behind the Dutchman.

Because of that, Red Bull decided to hire Sergio Perez for the 2021 season [and has kept the drive for 2022], as Albon dropped to the reserve driver role.

Jonathan Wheatley, Sporting Director of Red Bull, admitted it was a difficult period for Albon but heaped praise on him, too.

“You can imagine it was a very difficult transition for him from being the race driver to be the reserve driver,” he said on The Jack Threlfall Show.

“Alex is an extraordinary young man; [he is a] fantastic young driver, a really seriously fast driver.”

Albon struggled to get near Verstappen as the Dutchman held a clear advantage over him when they were partnered together, particularly in 2020.

Wheatley believes this is because of Verstappen’s exceptional talent and references Gasly’s problems in the first half of 2019, too.

“But a bit like Pierre, very difficult to come into a team with Max Verstappen as your teammate,” he said.

“It’s been a bit of a gulf coming from AlphaTauri or Toro Rosso in the past into a race team with somebody the likes of Max.

“Max managed to do it with Daniel, but now we can see that Max is another extraordinary talent.”

Along with his DTM commitments last year, Albon worked extremely hard in his reserve role to help Red Bull Racing win the Drivers’ Championship with Verstappen.

Wheatley praised Albon’s dedication to the cause.

“But Alex and his dedication and the fact he never once let his emotions overcome him… I think it just shows a resilience in the guy.

2022 sees Albon back on the grid as the Thai driver joins Nicholas Latifi at Williams.

Wheatley is looking forward to see how he performs.

“I have all the time in the world for Alex,” he continued.

“It’s going to be fascinating to see him in the Williams this year. Hopefully we’ll see some massively strong performances from him.”