A Look Back: Barcelona

Refresh your memory on Albono's previous trips to Barcelona

Published

21 Jun 2024

Est Reading Time

3 min

Alex is familiar with the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, having raced at the venue in Formula 2 and Formula 1.

In 2017, on the F2 stage with ART Grand Prix, Albono set a 1:29.732 to qualify P5, from which he held position in the Feature Race, though dropped to P8 in the Sprint.

A year later, he was at DAMS and produced a spectacular knock-out performance, taking a second successive pole position as he pipped Nyck de Vries to the top spot.

After a slow getaway that saw three pass during the early stages at the Feature, Alex battled back into contention, though struggled with tyre degradation, which saw him to a P5 finish.

However, the Sprint saw him make an impressive return, capitalising on Sette Camara running wide to move up into second, where he was locked in battle with Lando Norris, running P3.

For the following laps, Albono pushed the leader, Jack Aitken, to the very end of the race but just fell short and crossed the finish line 1.5s off the top step.

2019 would see him return to Barcelona as an F1 driver with Scuderia Toro Rosso. Our Thai racer made it as far as the second round in a close-cut quali for 12th.

A promotion to P11 after Daniel Riccardo was penalised three places for causing a collision at the previous round stood Alex in good stead for Sunday.

Despite a clean start and solid race, Albono could not work his way around a stubborn Romain Grosjean, which saw him finish the race P11.

The following Spanish GP was one of the 17 races to go ahead in 2020. Alex, this time racing for Red Bull, reached the third round of Qualification and set a 1:17.029 to earn P6.

Unfortunately, our No23 was forced into an early switch to hards, which left him 16th. From here, he cut through the midfield before making a second stop on Lap 39.

Albono kept a lively Pierre Gasly at bay to end the race in P8 to take home four points.

In 2022, Alex switched to Williams Racing's blue, though he would have a tough return to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as he struggled for pace in quali for P19.

Sunday saw sweltering heat, which made it difficult to manage the tyres. That, combined with significant damage to the floor of his FW44, affected his race, which he eventually ended P18.

Last year, he again had a difficult start in Saturday’s knock-out session, as he fell in the first round of qualis to P19 on the starting grid. Alex, however, battled well on race day, overtaking three to secure P16 on Race Day.

We can’t wait to see Alex back on the tarmac of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya!