A couple of weeks ago, Red Bull pulled off a move that surprised many and was unsurprising at the same time. The expected part was the inevitable dismissal of the misfiring Pierre Gasly from the senior team. However, when caught everybody off guard was the man who was taking his place, Alex Albon.

Naturally, Albon was absolutely ecstatic to get a promotion to the senior squad. Taking to Twitter, he said, “Surreal to have been given this massive opportunity Red Bull Racing! Can’t thank you enough for believing in me and making this possible. It’s a big jump into the deep end, but I’ve got my swimming shorts on! Thanks to all the guys at Toro Rosso, especially Franz Tost for the massive opportunity in F1 and never-ending support throughout my first year! Now to focus for my first race with the team in Spa”

In all honesty, Albon’s career in 2019 has had so many twists and turns and this was just another one. In the beginning, Alex Albon was not even destined for a Formula One seat at all. Instead, had the original plan followed through, he would have partnered Sebastien Buemi at Nissan e.DAMS. However, Toro Rosso managed to pull some strings and rope the Thai driver in.

Then, in the wake of Gasly’s underwhelming performances, everybody knew that the Frenchman’s days were numbered. The only question was how long would he last at the Austrian outfit? Would they be patient and give him till the end of the year? or would they replace him midway with one of the Toro Rosso boys.

That question was soon answered a couple of weeks ago when Red Bull demoted Gasly and surprisingly promoted Alex Albon. While Daniil Kvyat made a strong case for himself with 3rd in Hockenheim, big sister evidently felt that the Thai driver was the real deal.