Formula E testing ‘useful’ for Albon ahead of F1 debut

Alexander Albon feels his experience driving a Formula E car will prove useful when he samples a hybrid power unit for the first time upon his Formula 1 debut for Toro Rosso.

Albon completed Formula E testing for Renault e.dams in January 2018, and was due to race for Nissan before being released in order to take up an F1 seat with Toro Rosso.

The ex-Formula 2 driver has never raced with a hybrid powertrain before, but feels the experience of driving a Formula E car will help his preparation for his F1 debut in March.

“I was fortunate to do some Formula E testing, so when I did that I learned a lot about the powertrain and it’s quite surprising how similar the two are,” Albon said.

“I wouldn’t say the technology is the same, but the way you have to save energy and things like that, they’re very similar. It was useful to have done that testing, I think it won’t be too difficult to adapt to that.”

Albon explained how he expects the speed and downforce difference between F1 and F2 to be the bigger challenge upon his maiden outing, as well as growing accustom to the bigger size of the race team at Toro Rosso.

“Obviously, these cars are quicker than ever now, even if speeds might drop a little this year. But in terms of the jump from Formula 2 to Formula 1, it’s really, really big,” Albon said.

“That’s mainly from the downforce. I think the speed won’t be too difficult to deal with, it’s more just the pure width of the car I’ll have to get used to.

“Secondly, something which I think people don’t realise, is just the sheer amount of people and the work ethic involved in F1. It’s different in the sense that you have so many people working for you and they’re all striving to be as quick as possible, so for a driver there’s a lot of interaction with the team. There’s always someone that I need to speak with in order to get the maximum out of the car.

“In Formula 2, I had two engineers, there was a head engineer and I had two mechanics in total. So that’s six or seven people and now I’m going to a team that’s got almost 400 people.

“It’s a different ball game but I’m getting used to it - It’s a nice problem to have!"