Insider claims Red Bull tried to re-hire Alex Albon to replace Sergio Perez

Red Bull reportedly tried to re-sign Alex Albon as a replacement for Sergio Perez.

According to F1 reporter Lawrence Barretto, Red Bull attempted to bring Albon back to the team from Williams - but were unsuccessful.

After missing out on Albon, Red Bull promoted Liam Lawson as Perez’s replacement for the 2025 F1 season.

However, Lawson has struggled to adapt to life at Red Bull, failing to score points in the opening two rounds of the season.

This resulted in Red Bull’s brutal decision to demote Lawson back to Racing Bulls, making way for Yuki Tsunoda to partner Verstappen for the rest of the season.

However, according to Barretto, Red Bull tried to re-sign Albon.

“The Milton Keynes-based squad however have never promoted a driver they have demoted previously, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t,” Barretto noted.

“Sources say they attempted to get Albon back for this season as a replacement for Perez but were unsuccessful.”

Albon’s Williams resurgence

Albon has enjoyed a remarkable resurgence at Williams since leaving the Red

Bull family at the end of 2021, forging an impressive F1 career of his own.

Like Pierre Gasly, Albon’s career at Red Bull was largely unsuccessful.

In 2020, Albon was whitewashed by Verstappen in qualifying.

While Albon ended the year strongly with a podium in Bahrain and a strong drive to fourth in Abu Dhabi, he was replaced by Sergio Perez for 2021.

This left Albon on the sidelines and out of action, forced into a test and reserve role based back at the team’s factory in Milton Keynes as a simulator driver.

George Russell’s promotion to Mercedes left a vacancy for Albon, which he would fill.

Albon took his second chance with both hands, dismantling Nicholas Latifi in 2022.

Albon led the team in Russell-like fashion, capitalising on any days there were big points on the table for Williams.

While a question mark remained about Albon’s true level of performance due to the identity of his teammates, he quickly rebuilt his reputation.

Fast forward to 2025 alongside Carlos Sainz, Albon has already proven to be a tough teammate to beat.

Williams have scored 17 points already in 2025 - 16 of those are courtesy of Albon.

Whether it was Albon’s choice to reject Red Bull - or Williams - staying put is working out for him.