Albon to dovetail Red Bull F1 reserve duties with select DTM races in 2021

Alex Albon will contest select Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) events alongside his role as reserve driver for the Red Bull Formula 1 team in 2021.

The 24-year-old Thai racer will take part in DTM events that do not clash with his commitments as a test and simulator driver for the F1 team.

Albon was replaced as Max Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull by Sergio Perez for the 2021 season following a difficult first full-season at the team, leaving him without a seat on the F1 grid.

Red Bull Racing junior driver Liam Lawson will also race in the DTM series this year.

The 18-year-old, who won the 2019 Toyota Racing Series championship, finished fifth in the FIA Formula 3 standings during his second season in the series, claiming three victories for Hitech Grand Prix.

Following his sophomore campaign in FIA F3, Lawson will make the switch to Germany’s premier touring car category for the upcoming 2021 season.

"The DTM with a high-class field and GT3 sports cars is an interesting platform and a real challenge, both for successful race drivers like Alex Albon as for our Red Bull junior driver Liam Lawson," said Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko.

DTM boss Gerhard Berger added: “Formula 1 drivers like Alex Albon, DTM stars like three-time champion René Rast, GT professionals and young talents like Liam Lawson – that is a high-class driver mix the way I would like it for the 2021 DTM season.

“It is also a perfect fit that ex-Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button has already submitted an entry for the DTM with his team.”

Having scrapped its previous Class One regulations, DTM will switch to a GT3-based approach for the 2021 season, which is due to get underway in early May in Russia, the first of nine rounds.