What a tremendous difference two weeks can make to a racer. Alex Albon was celebrating a podium finish in Mugello a fortnight ago, but the Sochi Autodrom has not brought him the same cause for jubilation.

He suffered a tough Q3 that saw him finish P10. That means Albon will be starting alongside McLaren’s Lando Norris in the fifth row.

From a personal perspective, any Red Bull driver needs to be qualifying P5 at the least. Because at the moment, that seems like their best chance to stop Mercedes from running away with the Constructors’ Championship.

In addition, the fact that Max Verstappen qualified in P2 would only weigh him down.

Alex Albon ‘scratching his head’ over lack of race pace

It was painstakingly clear that Albon was disappointed with his own showing. Race engineer Simon Rennie was having a monologue delivering instructions. But Albon was in no mood to verbally respond to any of it.

Whether it is the fault of the driver or that of the engineers, the outcome is that Red Bull has lost out. The post-qualy interview saw Albon explain the time gap.

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“It didn’t feel terrible in Q1 and Q2, and it just seemed like people around made a jump. I didn’t really feel like I had much left to be honest. A bit of head-scratching going on, because yeah, the laps I did didn’t feel terrible.

“Of course there are still in places a couple of tenths to find here and there. But yeah, obviously the gap is quite big. A bit confusing, and some work to do.”

Red Bull may look towards other solutions

Earlier in the week, Team Principal Christian Horner expressed his intention to retain Albon for 2021. But while doing so, did not exactly close the door on other options.

It is agreeable that Albon has picked up more points starting from lower positions. It is also understandable that Albon does not have the exact same upgrades as Max.

But regardless, the Red Bull car is a capable performer, and its driver needs to be consistent. And the results do not exactly favor Albon here, who has failed to reach the second and third-row consistently.

Christmas 2020 is not far away, and Red Bull need to make a decision. The clock doth tick and it’s not looking good for Alex Albon.