[Pierre] Is this about my seat?
[producer] Yes.
[Pierre] I wanna know that you guys say the truth or not, so...
[producer] Yeah.
That's why I just asked you to know in which way it's being said.
[Pierre] I lost it.
[Christian] The situation with Pierre,
it's frustrating 'cause I really feel
that we've got a car that could beat Ferrari this year.
But we've been running one-legged.
[Pierre] Fuck! Fucking hell.
No!
[Christian] Finishing seventh or eighth or ninth has no value to us,
so we decided to release Pierre from the Red Bull Racing seat.
At the end of the day, if you can't cope with the pressure and scrutiny,
you're never gonna make it at the highest level in Formula 1.
[Alexander Albon] Truthfully, not many people get the opportunity
to pursue a career in Formula 1.
[praying in Thai]
[Alexander in English] It's an expensive sport from the beginning,
so, being a rookie, I feel very lucky to be where I am.
My name is Alexander Albon. I'm 23, and I race for Scuderia Toro Rosso.
I've got four siblings.
We're very close, so a big family.
My mom's Thai. Dad is British.
My dad lives in Malaysia now, so I don't really see him that much.
But he comes to Silverstone, always.
You can only be one nationality in motorsports,
so I did choose the Thai racing license.
-[monk] Can I take a picture? -[Alexander] Of course.
[monk] I just shared you on my story.
[Alexander laughs]
[Alexander] My mom, she's been my number one supporter from day one.
[Minki] When things were tough, really tough, last year,
I came here and, you know, we pray
and, uh, we asked for things to change for Alex.
[Sophie] I'm making it really good for you, don't worry.
Cool.
Let's go. Shall we go?
[Minki] Yes.
[Minki] Alex is the head of the family.
The younger ones look up to him. You know, ask for his opinion a lot.
So, he's very important to us.
[Alexander] This is a Buddhist school.
I kind of wish I did it.
But my mum didn't take us to school.
Instead, she's busy taking Instagram videos.
[all laughing]
[Alexander] Zoe, can you take this?
[Minki] That was a fluke.
Did you guys get that?
[laughing]
[Alexander] Is my phone here?
[indistinct chatter]
[Sophie] I'm going to paint my nails.
I live with my four siblings and my mum.
We rent this place, so it is quite small.
It will be a very short tour, but, yeah, this is pretty much it.
-So, living room. -[Sophie] That's the dining room.
Dining room. [laughs]
I have a bit of my trophies.
This one is from the World Championship.
There's a photo going around now, of Max and I, in karting.
That's when I won the World Championship.
Basically, Max, Pierre,
Esteban Ocon,
even Charles, we were all racing in the same year.
[Alexander] We'd grown up together, but that's not to tell you
when we put on our helmets, we're nice to each other.
I guess, in a way, good reminder of where we've come from.
Take it back 12 months ago, I was in Formula 2.
[Alex Jacques] This is wall-to-wall drama, the Formula 2 championship.
[Alexander] Formula 2 is very serious for young drivers.
It's our way to basically get into Formula 1.
Formula 2 is the support race for Formula 1.
We race on the same tracks and on the same weekend as Formula 1,
so the Formula 1 teams watch the race.
They see how you're doing.
Guys who have been dominating tend to get the opportunities in Formula 1.
I went into that year fighting for the championship.
[Alex Jacques] Alexander Albon wins in Baku.
[Rosamma] What an incredible race.
Yeah, um...
Been a really tough couple of years.
[announcer] The champagne!
[celebratory music playing]
[Alexander] At the end of that year, I came out third
and I didn't really have a team,
so I thought that was it.
[all cheering]
[Alexander] And then suddenly,
everything changed.
[engine accelerating]
[Alexander] I got the call up for Toro Rosso.
It was a shock.
[Helmut] Since last year, we've been watching Alex Albon.
My name is Helmut Marko. I work for Red Bull.
Red Bull have two Formula 1 teams, Red Bull Racing and then Toro Rosso.
We are trying to give young people a chance.
That's part of the Red Bull philosophy.
And that's why we took Albon to Toro Rosso.
[David] Alex Albon from pitlane to ten. Didn't he do well?
Immediately, he jumped in and he did three very good races.
[Alex Jacques] Here's Alexander Albon on Pierre Gasly.
Gasly can't fight back.
Super move.
[Alexander] The first thing they care about is if you're fast enough.
Of course, I'm wary that there isn't that much time given to a driver
to showcase his abilities.
[David] Sparks flying. Someone's got some damage.
Albon in the thick of it.
[Alexander] There's always a feeling of expectation and pressure.
[David] Here comes Albon, round the outside of Gasly.
Good stuff.
[Alexander] There's only 20 of us,
so you never know the next big talent to come in the sport.
You never know the next rich person to come into the sport.
You know it could always be your last opportunity.
That's part of the game.
[Christian] Here at Red Bull, Pierre Gasly has been our Achilles' heel.
Now, at this point,
we need a driver that can deliver and not make mistakes.
A driver that's got tremendous self-assurance,
a driver that will say, "Fuck it, I'm going for it.
This is who I am."
Bang.
Deliver.
We'll give Alex Albon a run for the remaining nine races.
We're gonna put you in situ,
so we just have to shoot you in a similar pose
because we're gonna remove that subject and put you in place, basically.
Okay.
[Christian] The decision was made with Alex Albon
to promote him as the logical candidate within the Red Bull program.
So, you can smile even more.
Okay, good.
Alex has got nine races to demonstrate that he's got the right qualities
to be a Red Bull Racing driver.
Saying, "Okay, if you do a good enough job,
the seat is yours in 2020."
But he will need to be able to deal with the pressure that goes with that.
[Alexander] Feeling right now, obviously, a lot of excitement.
I would be lying if I said there wasn't a bit of nerves as well.
It's really cool.
It's like an F1 car on steroids.
Now I've stepped up to the big team, of course, there comes expectation.
With Pierre, you can't really feel sorry for people in Formula 1.
When you do get the chance, you really have to make the most of it.
You have to be selfish.
I've been given this opportunity,
but trying not to get too flustered by it all.
Thinking about it now, 12 months ago, I was fighting for a seat
and now I'm here, it's a bit crazy.
-[Alexander] How are you? -[man] So happy for you.
[Simon] Alex Albon, after just 12 races in Formula 1,
has now replaced Pierre Gasly at Red Bull.
[fan] Congrats, Alex.
[Will] Pierre, did you get any advance warning?
Well, of course. Um, uh...
I gather you're surprised by the decision, but do you believe it was a fair one?
Um...
[reporter 1 speaking in French]
[reporter 2 in English] Do you feel you have been treated in a fair way?
The thing is, there are many things, but that should stay internally
and I don't really want to talk about it.
[camera shutters clicking]
Coming into Spa, there are a lot of talks and there is a lot of trash talk as well.
I've just stopped listening to all this.
I'm just focusing on myself,
making sure that I deliver the best performance I can,
and, yeah, still developing myself as a driver.
But when you lose your seat,
it's difficult.
[producer] Any advice for Alex Albon?
[chuckles]
I think he's smart enough to find out by himself.
-[Jonathan] How are you? -[Alexander] Yeah, not too bad, thank you.
[Jonathan] Congratulations on your elevation.
Cheers, thank you, yeah.
I just want to say this, absolutely at the start,
that probably anyone in the next week who writes something
-in a national British newspaper... -Yeah.
...will make mention of that thing.
-Yeah, I know. -What I'm saying to you is
tell me as little or as much as you want and I will deal with it as well as I can.
But mainly this is an interview about racing.
That's what we accepted on our understanding.
Oh. Right.
I would suggest that we work together on it.
This isn't going to be a one-to-one about Alex's mom.
I can tell you that now.
[Jonathan] No, there'll be an element of that.
I'm not trying to cause a bother here.
-Yeah. -Yeah.
[Jonathan] I've got a job to do. That's what I'd like to do.
Do that another day, then.
-[Jacques] Right. -[Jonathan] Thank you.
-[Alexander] Cheers, guys. -[woman] Thank you very much.
[Alexander] See you.
The media love to find some stuff.
If you don't know the story, 2012,
that year was by far the hardest year I've had in my life.
Even now, I don't like talking about it, to be honest, 'cause it's...
It's more I want to ask my mom if she wants to speak about it.
[Minki] Alex, he's been through a lot.
There was a time, a long time ago now, that I wasn't with the children.
[newsreader 1] Minki Albon, jailed for fraud.
[newsreader 2] Kankamol Albon, jailed for six years in October...
It was a tough period, obviously. I was in court.
I kind of saw everything happen.
Saw her get locked up and taken away.
Yeah.
I need to pray.
[Minki] Yes, I did wrong.
I've paid for what I've done and Alex has forgiven me.
She was in and then she got out mid-2015.
So, it was a tough period.
I was 15 at that time and I was the man of the house,
looking after my siblings and all that kind of thing,
when... We call it, "When she was on her holiday."
I was a Red Bull Junior driver back then.
But I was a bit of a lost sheep.
Just having to deal with the pressures of family life
as well as actual racing life.
Just kind of going to races, I didn't really have the right mindset.
And then I got dropped.
To be honest, the results weren't good enough
and that was that, which kind of...
Yeah, I saw it coming.
Then, obviously, to be dropped, it's kind of like a big bomb,
where you just think, "What are we going to do now?"
Didn't have any money, of course.
But I did have my Thai heritage.
So we found some sponsors in Thailand.
How did you feel the ThaiBev was support you about the race?
Uh, I'm really privileged, I'm really thankful,
now they're supporting me this year.
[Alexander] That was really the only way I could ever have got back into racing.
Two years after everything happened,
the results started to suddenly come
and I started to get podiums, started to win races.
I think that's where, 2012, it made me a lot hungrier.
I realized how much I wanted it afterwards
because it got taken away from me, the chance of Formula 1.
[trainer] Three, two, one.
[commentator] We're ready, we're set.
It's qualifying for the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix.
Twelve races with Toro Rosso,
and promoted to Red Bull to become their 11th driver.
[Martin] Over the winter, he was nowhere near a Formula 1 car,
and then he got in the Toro Rosso. Now, he's in a Red Bull.
[Alexander] My mom, we're very close.
That's why I always have my family with me.
It makes everything feel normal.
You're with the people you've been with the whole time.
Because really, I wouldn't be driving if it wasn't for them.
So, this transition to Red Bull, it is a big deal for all of us.
And then, during the race weekend, there's a lot of people.
[press] Alex!
[indistinct chatter]
[Alexander] And there's a big atmosphere.
[all cheering]
[Alexander] The pressure around you starts to get very intense.
Before each session, I quickly do a meditation.
The reason I meditate,
it's that feeling of getting away from Formula 1 a little bit.
It's really good for clearing your mind.
You feel your whole body from head to toe.
And then, at that point...
[engine revs]
I do a lot of imagining the track,
envisioning what I need to do to be my best,
so I'm as prepared as possible.
[engine roaring]
[Alexander] Reset and then go.
[Christian] Okay, mate, have a good one.
There's no pressure on this at all, so just enjoy it,
see what the car's like on the low fuel.
Okay.
[David] On board with Alex Albon,
the sixth driver to be promoted from Toro Rosso
and easily the least experienced.
Good job.
Keep pushing.
[David] Albon now crosses the line.
[engineer] Excellent, Alex.
Considering your preparation, you're only three-tenths off Hamilton.
[Christian] Well done, Alex. That was a good job.
The performance he put in was mightily impressive,
but, unfortunately, we've taken an engine penalty
and so, Alex, he'll be starting at the back of the grid.
[Alex Jacques] Good afternoon. You're watching Formula 2
right here, right now, in front of a huge crowd in Belgium.
[reporter] How much are you looking forward to tomorrow?
Obviously, points woummld be the main aim.
Something out of your control happens, a yellow flag...
It's different. No, it's just different...
[crashing]
-[Alex Jacques] There's a big crash there. -Holy jeez.
[Alex Jacques] There's a car, who's lost it on the way...
Oh, no.
Oh, wow.
[indistinct chatter]
[Alex Jacques] That's a horrible accident.
Jeez, I hope that kid's good.
Okay, um...
Wow.
That's terrifying.
Um...
[Chloe] Oh, my God.
Who was that?
Uh, we're just trying to see who it was.
[Minki] Oh, my God.
-[Minki] Isn't that Nick? -[Chloe] Oh, my God, it's Correa.
[Minki] And Hubert.
[Chloe] Oh, my God.
Alex is good friends with him.
[siren wailing]
[Minki] Look. The ambulance.
The crash is there, so they're probably getting...
[Alex Jacques] We can confirm to you
that it's Anthoine Hubert and Juan Manuel Correa
who were involved in the crash.
I've never seen an accident that bad.
[Alex Jacques] We have a red flag
and the race suspended after a very violent accident.
The medical car has been deployed to the top of the hill.
And we keep our fingers crossed that they are okay.
[newsreader 1] Motorsport is in mourning following the death of a young driver
during a support race for this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix.
Twenty-two-year-old French driver Anthoine Hubert died...
[newsreader 2] Anthoine Hubert has been killed in a Formula 2 crash
at the Belgian Grand Prix.
[newsreader 3] ...shocked and saddened,
a sport mourning the loss of one of its brightest stars.
My dream is to reach Formula 1.
[Alex Jacques] And we're under way. Hubert has the lead.
What a brilliant start for him.
[Hubert] You reach Formula 2 and you're getting close to it,
but you need to still work very hard and perform well if I want to get there.
[Alex Jacques] What a moment for Hubert
to take the chequered flag and win his home event.
[all applauding]
[Hubert] Both parents following me and helping me, as well as my brother.
Nineteen years, we are doing this together.
Hopefully, we can get to reach our dream together.
[Alexander] I would always say Anthoine was one of the good guys.
I saw the crash live.
It does really affect you
because he was someone who I've raced against my whole life.
[Christian] There's this realization for all the drivers that,
"That could've been me."
You know, that is a comrade.
It's someone's boyfriend, it's someone son,
and, uh... they're not gonna be around.
[Pierre] When you lose your best mate,
you can't really describe what goes through your mind
or even through your body, you know.
You just feel shit and just can't believe this.
When the crash happened, I was in the paddock.
Straightaway, I understood, when I saw the cars,
I said, "Something really bad must have happened."
And at that time, I didn't understand which drivers were involved.
I just saw my parents. They were completely broken, in tears,
and yeah, they told me that Anthoine had passed away.
It's just... To accept this, it's difficult.
I've grown up with him from my first season in karting.
I was racing against him,
but at the same time supporting each other
and really motivating each other.
From 13 till 18, he was my roommate, he was my classmate,
slept in the same room, went to the same classes,
trained every single afternoon together.
I knew he wanted as much as I wanted, to be in Formula 1.
Yeah, it's just...
If I think about all these years,
I've been growing and becoming the person I am today,
uh, partly thanks to him.
[engine revving]
-[engineer] The track temp will help you. -[Alexander] Hey, Christian.
-[Alexander] You okay? -[Christian] Yeah, good. You all right?
Yeah, I'm okay, mate.
I think you had a tough one last night, I'm sure.
Yeah.
But, you know, he was doing what he loved.
Honestly, last night, it was really bad sleep.
-Yeah. -I don't know...
Normally, I really don't...
[Christian] I slept about two hours last night.
Yeah.
But you know what?
He would have given his right arm to be in your position.
Yeah.
-Yeah. -Give it everything.
Yeah, I will do.
[indistinct chatter]
[Alexander] But yeah...
[Minki] All the mothers, they're scared of their child being a driver.
But I believe in Alex and I believe in fate
and I believe that things will turn out well for him.
[indistinct chatter]
[Alexander] You have this build up before the race,
where you think nothing's really gonna...
You feel worried, actually.
For us lot, for the drivers,
it wasn't easy.
When you race at 300 kph, it's just dangerous,
and it will always remain a dangerous sport,
but you can't think about it. Otherwise, you just can't drive to the limit anymore.
[Alexander] But once the lights go out...
you just turn that negative doubt into a positive.
This is your chance to show yourself.
[David] And we're racing in Belgium. Albon darts out towards the inside.
Pierre Gasly looking to the inside of the Renault.
Oh! Verstappen hits Raikkonen.
And there's chaos at the first corner.
Verstappen's got damage. He's dropping down the order.
And Verstappen's in the wall!
He's out of the Grand Prix.
It was a horrible start.
We need Albon to deliver week in, week out,
because on the days that something happens to Max,
you've got a driver that's right there to pick up the pieces.
[engineer] Alex, we are currently P13.
The car behind is Hulkenberg.
Come on, Alex.
[David] Here comes Nico Hulkenberg in the Renault to the inside line.
Wheel-to-wheel and Hulkenberg's through.
[groans]
[David] Albon now down to 14th place.
[engineer] There's a long way still to go.
Keep pushing.
Okay, Pierre, so, as discussed, we are P9.
Currently P9.
Next one in front is Magnussen now.
[Pierre] Copy.
Yes!
[David] There's big smiles for Pierre Gasly's family.
[engineer] Alex.
Get through as quick as you can.
[David] Meanwhile, Alex Albon is struggling
to get back in front of Nico Hulkenberg.
[Alexander] At that point, I was just feeling like...
[sighs] You know?
I know the team wanted someone who can overtake,
who can kind of show the speed of the car, but I was genuinely stuck.
I felt like I can't get past.
[Martin] So, Pierre Gasly gets dumped out of the Red Bull team into the Toro Rosso
and here he is, as the leading Red Bull car of the four.
[David] Gasly all over the curves, trying to get alongside Sergio Perez.
Kimi Raikkonen is just ahead of them.
And they're gonna go three wide.
[all applauding]
[engineer 1] You're doing a good job.
Push up.
[engineer 2] Box. Alex, box.
The Red Bull Racing car, it's a very complicated car to drive,
so by the time we reached the pit stop, he was still working it out.
Come on, Alex.
[David] Alex Albon down to the chicane, to the outside of Kevin Magnussen.
[engineer 1] Okay, Pierre. You are doing a good job. 18 more laps.
[David] I think Gasly will be pleased with his performance this afternoon.
Meanwhile, the man that replaced him at Red Bull, Alex Albon,
is further down the field in 14th.
[Alexander] When things turn bad, you have to focus your mind.
You get this really gritty attitude towards driving.
You've got to just ride the roller coaster and enjoy it.
[David] Albon following the Racing Point. He's gone for it and he's through.
Yes, come on!
Come on. Yes!
[clapping]
[engineer 2] Good job. Next one, Hulkenberg.
Come on, Alex, come on!
[engineer 2] Excellent. Keep pushing.
Car in front, Gasly.
[David] How about this for a battle?
Alex Albon on Pierre Gasly.
[engineer 1] Fighting for P10.
Albon behind us.
Come on, Pierre.
[David] And down the inside goes Albon.
Late on the brakes.
Gasly holds it round the outside.
Alex Albon riding the slipstream of the Toro Rosso,
gets to the inside.
[Martin] Okay, it's game on now, isn't it?
[David] Ricciardo is Albon's next target.
Nothing doing there.
Goes for the cutback, but again, Ricciardo's defensive.
Albon goes for it anyway. What a move!
Yes!
[clapping and cheering]
[engineer 2] You are doing great, Alex. Well done.
Next car, Pérez.
[David] Whether he can catch Sergio Pérez by the end of the race...
It's gonna be tough.
[engineer 2] Pérez, nine seconds in front.
Nine laps to go.
Keep pushing.
Six laps to go.
Four laps to go.
[David] That gap now between Albon and Pérez just four seconds.
[engineer 2] Keep pushing.
Three laps to go.
Two laps to go.
[David] The gap is now down to 1.7 seconds.
[Martin] This could go down to the very last chicane of the race.
[crowd cheering]
[David] Up to the fastest point on the circuit,
Albon sensed a dummy.
And he's through!
[both cheering]
[David] And Alex Albon is on his way home to take fifth place in this race.
[applauding]
[engineer 2] P5.
Excellent work, Alex. Thumbs up, mate.
[Alexander] That was a really good job, guys.
[David] Here comes Gasly across the line
to take home a couple of points this afternoon.
[engineer 1] P9, Pierre, P9. Beautiful race.
[David] Gasly will be pleased with that.
For Alex Albon, that's a career-best finish for him on his Red Bull debut.
[Christian] Well done, Alex.
Really very good. P5 from the back of the grid. Well done.
[Alexander] Yeah, thank you.
Still some work to do, though, for sure.
[Alexander] I think they see potential in me,
but this doesn't mean that I have the seat for next year.
This is more of a test, really.
And, yeah, we'll give it a go, we'll see.
[Christian] I think Alex, he's just stepped it up.
And the relationship could not have got off to a better start.
[Smith] Well done, mate. That was mighty.
Well done.
[Christian] And it just injected a whole bunch of motivation
into Red Bull Racing.
He needs to be within three or four tenths of Max by the end of the year
to be the right guy to be alongside him for 2020.
[David] It's difficult to put into words the emotions around Spa today.
It's a weekend where the devastating low
of the death of the young F2 racer and rising star Anthoine Hubert
has served to remind us all once again,
the risks taken to seek the rewards in motorsport.
[engineer 1] You've done a very good job today, Pierre,
very good job.
You should be proud.
[Pierre] Thanks, guys.
Only a couple of points,
but I'm happy to score it for my friend, Anthoine.
[engineer 1] Copy that.
[Pierre] Whether you knew Anthoine or not,
everybody in motorsport has been impacted in some way.
It was very tough and it was a big shock to everyone, I think.
It is strange. I think I've been racing these guys since I was 13.
In the end, you spend so much time together,
you have the same interests, you have the same dilemmas.
When you're amongst these guys, you feel like family.
And family is number one.
[Pierre] Whether you are in Formula 1
or whether it's Formula 4 or it's Formula 2,
you know, it's like we are all brothers in this world.
When you lose one of your brothers,
you feel the need to enjoy life and enjoy racing and Formula 1
as much as he would have liked.
These things happen to remind it to us.
You can occasionally kiss if you want.
[laughing]
[man 1] Start by holding hands.
-Can you win this weekend? -Yeah!
-[man 2] Vettel's undercut him. -[Charles] What the hell?
[man 4] Oh, no! What's happened there?
We can start drinking now. It's five o'clock somewhere.
Nico!
Hulkenberg!
[laughing]
You are acting as a shrink for our couple.
[Alexander] This is where I'm gonna have my single life.
[man 5] It's very hard to keep up with him.
[Max] This is the best day of my life.