Alex Albon says his prime goal is to return to Formula 1 at either of the two Red Bull teams in 2022.
The Thai driver lost his seat to Sergio Perez for this season after failing to regularly perform alongside Max Verstappen for most of last year.
Adapting to the sometimes temperamental RB16 was Albon’s main struggle, but still, his results were such that he actually finished 20 points behind Perez in seventh in the Drivers’ Championship.
On Monday, Alex spoke to the media for the first time since being dropped but voiced his determination to only make it a temporary departure from the grid.
“Of course it’s disappointing, it’s always going to be disappointing because this is our dream,” he told The Race.
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“But very quickly it was one of those things where there’s no point feeling sorry for yourself.
“You’ve got to get back into it and do as much as you can to get back so my goal, of course, is to be back in a seat next year, and just be ready for this year as well.”
It was then Albon admitted he wouldn’t just be focusing on regaining his previous seat, but also opened the door to an AlphaTauri return.
“Firstly, the goal has to be [to return] with Red Bull, there’s not just two, there’s four seats there,” he noted.
“My goal is really to wait and assess how it’s going. Obviously if everyone’s performing then you’d be able to know what the situation is.
“My duty is to focus on what’s going on right now, focus on getting the best for the team, doing what I can, improve myself within the factory. Once we can do that then we’ll see what happens.”
Perez was only signed on a one-year deal to Red Bull, but there’s no guarantee Albon would be the first choice for a 2022 seat with competition from the likes of Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda.
As for right now, McLaren driver and fellow Twitch quartet member Lando Norris admitted sympathising with Alex’s plight.
“It’s a shame he lost his seat but I’m sure he’s going to do everything he can to fight back and get back into F1,” said the 21-year-old.
“He’s a very good driver. I’m sorry for him, but Formula 1 can be a very hard world and we’re seeing that again.
“He beat everyone in all the junior categories, but once you’re in F1 it’s all different, just a bit more competitive. It can be a very unfair world.
“You can lose your spot just like that and it’s all over as quickly as it started.
“I don’t know what to say about it, I like Alex and have a lot of respect for him,” Norris added.
“It’s difficult because we’re good friends. We get along well and have always had good conversations, although we haven’t actually talked much about Red Bull.”