Formula One new boy Alex Albon says he is his family’s very own Uber driver
The star may be readying himself to negotiate the twists and turns of the Australian GP in his debut but has to deal with the roundabouts of Milton Keynes at home
ALEX ALBON will struggle to pip Lewis Hamilton to the F1 title this season – but he can lay claim to being the fastest taxi driver in Milton Keynes.
The 22-year-old has been promoted to Red Bull’s B-team Toro Rosso for this season.
The London-born Thai racer still lives at home in Buckinghamshire with his mum, Kankamol, and his brothers and sisters.
And when he’s not racing around F1 tracks, he’s negotiating the town’s legendary roundabouts on the school run in his Honda Civic.
He said: “I live with my family. They are very close to me. Maybe it is a Thai thing, we are all very close and when I got the opportunity to be at Red Bull in 2012, we all moved to Milton Keynes.
“I am with my mum, and I have three sisters and a brother. Some of them are at uni. I do the chores, well some of it.
“I am the family Uber. Every morning, I drop of my little sister Chloe, 17, and my brother Luca, 15, off at two different schools.
“I then come back, go training and have lunch and then pick them all again.
“It’s not cool, being a Formula One taxi driver, but it does mean they are on time in the mornings! No lateness!”
Albon’s boyhood hero was Michael Schumacher and even had his dad paint the Ferrari logo on his bedroom wardrobe.
He was poised to race in Formula E before getting a surprise telephone call from Red Bull’s advisor Helmut Marko offering him a seat at Toro Rosso while he was out shopping.
He added: “I was in a shopping mall in Dubai. It was the Monday after the weekend in Abu Dhabi.
“I was killing time buying some shoes and I got a phone call from Dr Marko telling me the situation.
“So I cancelled my flight home. I ran back to the hotel and called my mum and then went back to the circuit.
“It was crazy. F1 has always been my dream and it was one of those jump at it situation.”