At the lounge of the Anantara Siam Hotel, a young man in a red and blue polo shirt welcomes us warmly with a perfect sawasdee krub and a smile that reflects his happiness to be home. He is Alex Albon. Born in England to British dad and Thai mother, he is now racing for Scuderia Toro Rosso, representing Thailand in the 2019 Formula One Championship.Â
What does it mean to you to represent Thailand as an F1 racer?
I am extremely proud as I feel very much Thai. My mother is Thai, and I’m the second Thai racer that has made it this far. Although that could put some pressure on me, it’s the opposite. I get a nice feeling every time I think about it. Carrying the Thai flag everywhere I go means that I’m representing a whole nation and working towards the dreams of my people.
Photo: Courtesy of Red Bull
What kinds of preparation you go through before a race? Can you walk us through the process?
For any race, we usually leave on a Tuesday and do media coverage for the next following days. Sometimes on Wednesdays there is something to do with the local Red Bull markets and on Friday we’ve got the driving, two Free Practice sessions. Then you don’t have time for anything else just because that media and fan interaction is so much more than in any other series. You actually have less time with your engineers than I expected, there are other obligations when you’re a professional.Â
I also go through different mental and physical preparations, like doing light reaction drills, play with tennis balls and do many exercises that essentially awaken my mind. I talk to my team of psychologist as it’s extremely important to stay focus. This is a sport that is too different from any other. There’s a very low tolerance for bad performance. It’s extremely competitive as there’s only 20 of us around the world.
