Albon wants F1 return, sees IndyCar as backup option for 2022

Albon attended the most recent IndyCar round at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

After being dropped by Red Bull at the end of 2020, Albon was unable to find a seat on the grid and switched to DTM - the German touring car championship.

Albon sits fifth in the championship after the first six rounds in DTM.

With AlphaTauri set to retain Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda, Albon's options in F1 for 2022 are very limited.

Assessing his future, he said: “My main goal is to be in F1, but there’s never a 100 per cent certainty on that, so you got to have plan B and C to see what else is out there. I’ve always had that interest within IndyCar. You see it on the rise now, especially with the viewership and everything going up.

“It’s been really interesting to see,” he said. “Honestly, it’s more just hard to say if it’s something I would want to be doing. I’m seeing a few teams out there right now. I want to chat with them and see what’s out there so I can decide what I am going to do.

“Let’s just say, obviously, if the right opportunity is there, or let’s say the lack of opportunity is there in F1, and there’s an opportunity here that’s a good opportunity with a good team, and if in these next few days I think it’s something I would enjoy, obviously then the odds (of racing IndyCar in 2022) go up.”

Albon met up with former F1 driver Romain Grosjean - who switched to the American series having been dropped by Haas at the end of 2020.

The Thai driver revealed that he wanted to get Grosjean’s opinion on the series and how life has been in IndyCar compared to F1.

“Seeing Romain, as well, seeing what he’s doing, it’s been really interesting to see,” Albon added. “I just wanted to see what he thinks about it. Is he happy? Of course, he’s happy. He’s always got a smile on his face. How was that transition for him, and how did he feel in IndyCar straight away? He looks very comfortable here.”