Alex Albon expects a more "normal" 2020 at Red Bull as he eyes closing the gap to teammate Max Verstappen.
The Thai driver enjoyed a rocketship rise in the final 15 months of last decade having appeared destined for Formula E with Nissan following a third-place finish in Formula 2 before securing an F1 seat at Toro Rosso for 2019 and later joining Red Bull at the Belgian Grand Prix.
As he revealed his goal for 2020, however, Albon would go on to explain how the final promotion to the senior team actually hampered his progression during his rookie season.
“I need to be aware of where I am. I’ve only had a year in F1 and less than half a season with the team, but the goal is to close the gap between me and Max," he stated via Crash.net.
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“I’m also feeling that next year will be a bit more normal. This year was my first year and it definitely wasn’t normal.
"It was almost like I felt like I learned a good chunk of Formula 1 with the Toro Rosso and how it was working, then it changed [moving to Red Bull], it was almost like starting back at square one a little bit.
"At least now we have a real solid foundation, where it will be a more secure working towards Melbourne.”
Albon then identified getting settled with the 2020 Red Bull RB16 as crucial to achieving his goal but also hopes it will be designed to better suit his driving style.
"You can't change that much [during a Grand Prix weekend] because you can't risk just going crazy with it, but I think already, the team really understand kind of what I want in the car," he said.
"That's really where we can really start to focus. At testing, the atmosphere is obviously a little bit different, you have better comparisons, not like in FP1 and FP2 when you've got four hours in between a session and things like that.
"So it will be a really good time and it's a very important time where you have to really focus on your time, on your scheduling and making sure you're getting the most out of it."
If he can do that, Albon feels it will also help him regularly compete with the other top six drivers, something he only did realistically once in Brazil.
“When I look at the weekend as a whole, there are a lot more positives than negatives," he reflected. "Brazil, to some extent, was good. I am proud, but I want more.
“Afterwards I was more disappointed for the team rather than myself [at losing the podium]. It would’ve been good to get those extra points but it happens, it’s racing. I was over it by the next morning.
“We had a taster of what could be in Brazil and I want to build on that over the winter so I can be better next year.”
