After watching Max Verstappen have all the fun, Alex Albon finally stepped in the new Red Bull on Day 2 of Formula 1 testing.
The London-born Thai driver would finish fourth fastest in the RB16 with a strong total of 132 laps across the entire day at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
And, even after a precautionary Honda engine change late in the morning, Albon felt right at home aboard his 2020 ride.
“I think the running went relatively smoothly, the car’s feeling good,” he said.
“There are always little bits you can work on, considering the way I felt in Spa, driving the car for the first time, to now – there are always areas where you realise you were struggling a little bit and we addressed that really well over the winter.
“It’s feeling better, it’s feeling nice to drive so that’s positive.”
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Albon starts 2020 very much under the radar compared to many of his rivals around him, with the 23-year-old certainly not being considered as a candidate to become world champion.
Indeed, a good season for him is thought to be reducing the gap to Max Verstappen and perhaps ending his wait for a podium, but his ambitions are set on a win.
“That’s always the goal,” he claimed. “But saying that it’s very much a personal thing.
“For me, it’s working on myself. I felt like I was improving each time I got into the car (last year), and this year it’s evolving that.
“It’s not setting expectations or targets as such, but just focusing on each time I go in the car and improving lap by lap, getting the most out of it.”
One key difference in Albon’s favour for 2020 is much greater stability after his rapid rise over the past year.
“It’s one of the first years where there has been predictability,” he said.
“Just having that winter with the team has been really important because although it’s my second year with the team, we’ve only been together for six or seven months.
“There is still that learning going on, but it’s been going really well. The focus is on this year and developing the car from last year.
“Last year we ended strongly, the car was just getting better and better. This year we’re working on that and working on myself as well, improving on the places where I need to improve.”