Albon was 'right back into it' during "seamless" Red Bull F1 test

Alexander Albon says Red Bull enjoyed a "pretty seamless" test at Silverstone ahead of the 2020 Formula 1 season-opener in Austria next week. 

Red Bull elected to use its second and final filming day on Thursday at Silverstone in order to run its RB16 challenger and get Albon and its staff back up to speed. 

The test also provided Red Bull with an opportunity to practice F1’s strict new hygiene protocols that will be in place for the closed-door races at the start of the season, including the use of PPE and observing social distancing guidelines. 

Albon completed the 100km of permitted running and said he "got right back into it" after just a handful of laps around the British Grand Prix venue. 

“It was good to be back in the car today at Silverstone for our filming day and good to shake off the dust and get back into it," Albon said.

"I haven’t been in an F1 car for three months but after five or six laps I was right back into it. All that work in the gym doesn’t really matter until you see it on track. It’s a small track, a busy track and it was really hot today.

"So it’s been a good way to see where I’m at with fitness and I’m happy with it. It was also great to see everyone again. I’ve been in regular contact with the guys on my side of the garage since Melbourne, so things haven’t changed too much and it was easy to get that understanding again.

"It was also good for everyone to get used to the new COVID-19 protocols and it’s been pretty seamless. Overall it was a good opportunity to get back in touch with everything and to get back into that racing mindset." 

Max Verstappen was not present at Silverstone and therefore will have to wait until the Austrian Grand Prix for his first chance to drive an F1 car since lockdown started.

A number of teams have conducted similar outings in recent weeks to better understand the unique procedures that will be implemented to ensure events can be run safely this year. 

However, Red Bull is the only one of F1’s big three teams to run its 2020 car on track prior to the season-opener in Austria. 

It's been 118 days since we last saw this sight... We're so pleased to see you again RB16 #ChargeOn pic.twitter.com/lPrCUgMlSd

— Aston Martin Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) June 25, 2020

Its main rivals Mercedes and Ferrari instead opted to carry out tests with their 2018 cars so they had the freedom of completing unrestricted mileage. Both teams have already used up their permitted quota of ‘promotional’ days for the year. 

Renault also followed this principle during a two-day test at the Red Bull Ring last week to get Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon up to speed ahead of the forthcoming campaign. 

Only two other teams besides Red Bull have elected to use their 2020 challengers for the tests, with all three limited to 100km of running on demonstration Pirelli tyres. 

Racing Point was the first as Lance Stroll shook down its RP20 at Silverstone last week, while Red Bull’s junior team AlphaTauri ran two cars at Imola on Wednesday to maximise mileage for its drivers.