F1 2020: Alex Albon's make or break year in a rollercoaster career?

As Formula 1 emerges from a long shutdown, few will be more impatient to get back on track than one of the sport's rising stars Alex Albon.

2020 represents his big chance to make it to the top of F1, but with huge opportunity comes huge pressure.

Radio 1 Newsbeat chatted to the 23-year-old just before lockdown and it was clear that he's more than up for the challenge.

"It's an opportunity to show everyone what I can do," he says.

At the start of the 2019 season he lived through the the moment every young racing driver dreams of - his first race in F1.

Smiling at the memory, Alex remembers how nervous he was before making his debut in Australia as one of the world's 20 best racers.

Back then, he wouldn't have believed anyone who told him just how well his first season would pan out.

"I'd have said you were drunk!" Alex jokes.

Alex was promoted from Red Bull's B team (then called Toro Rosso) to the main team after just 12 races

'Nothing I could have imagined'

Many F1 drivers have to wait years to get a drive with one of the big teams which have a chance of winning races. Some never get that opportunity. It took Alex just 12 Grand Prixs.

But the path to success has been far from straightforward for the British-Thai driver, who only last year moved away from his family home in Milton Keynes, before returning to live with them in lockdown.

Eight years ago, he came close to quitting motorsport altogether, when he was dropped from Red Bull's young driver programme. But thanks to financial backing from sponsors and his mum's home country of Thailand he was able to keep his racing career alive.

After years of hard work climbing the notoriously tough motorsport ladder, he bounced back from that early disappointment to make it to Formula 2, the F1 feeder series in 2017.

But despite two years of doing well at F2 level, last winter he had to wait a long time to find out if he'd impressed Red Bull bosses enough for them to invite him back in to the fold, with their F1 sister team, then called Toro Rosso.

"To be honest that winter was one of the most restless of my life, just kind of not knowing what to expect," Alex tells Newsbeat.

"I was... pooing myself, would be the right word for it!"

Alex battles in Belgium, his first race for Red Bull

Alex took full advantage of his big F1 break and didn't stay in the other team for long.

Its main team is led by Max Verstappen. The Dutchman is one of the fastest and most exciting drivers on the grid. Few doubt that he's destined for world titles.

Max's 2019 teammate, Pierre Gasly, simply couldn't keep up with him. It meant Red Bull decided to swap the drivers, promoting Alex to the main team and demoting Pierre for the second half of the year.

Alex impressed enough to keep the seat alongside Max for the 2020 season - a spectacular rise through the motorsport ranks.

"It's been a crazy 12 months. Nothing I could have imagined," he says. "It still feels weird now to be honest. But here I am."

If results are good enough this season, it could be the start of a long career at the front F1, potentially even fighting for world championships. If he doesn't stay close to Max's pace, there's a chance he could be dropped and his F1 career could be over.

Alex says: "Being a two man sport, you're always going to get compared to your team mate. It's about ignoring that, trying to put that all to one side because it is very easy to fall into a mental hole.

"I know Max is very quick. At the same time, I want to do my own job. I want to have good results."

"It's quite normal in Formula 1, in motorsports," Alex adds. "It's a very cut-throat environment where every year could be your last."

'Oh god... Why am I on that billboard?'

Alex has found it strange adjusting to global fame

Alex is the first Thai Formula 1 driver since Birabongse Bhanudej, whose last F1 race was in 1954.

Alex has a Thai Mum and a British Dad, but chose to race under a Thai flag. It means he's helping to raise the sport's profile there.

"I stand in pride," he says. "Motorsport in Thailand isn't actually that big.

"It's improving and last year made a big step forward. Hopefully we can have a race there, that would be my my dream."

Alex talks about his last trip to Thailand in the autumn.

"Suddenly, there were billboards and trains stickered up with my face on. I'm quite shy, so to see all that was a bit of a shock.

"It's weird. I'm sure the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen get used to it, but when you first see, it feels like 'Oh god why am I on there!?'"

'We're not mates when we have our helmets on'

This year will be the biggest test Alex has ever faced in his motorsport career, but at least he'll have some friendly faces around him.

Last year, McLaren's Lando Norris and Williams driver George Russell were also new to the sport, which was comforting for Alex. The three regularly travelled to races together and have become good mates.

"Me and George grew up together, we raced against each other. Lando was a bit of a younger generation compared to George and I, but we've kind of come into this whole world together.

"When you're racing against people like Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel, these guys are the titans of the sport.

"But at the same time, you look across your shoulder and you're like, 'Oh it's George and Lando'. It's nice to have other rookies that you can hang out with."

George Russell, Alex Albon and Lando Norris crack up in a press conference. F1 veteran Kimi Räikkönen (far left) is not known for smiling. Ever

Alex says he usually spends more time in F1 than he does with his own family. But it's rare for drivers at this level to be firm friends, on or off track.

"I think the younger generation are a bit more open to being friends.

"It's not to say, when we put the helmet on that we're still mates, we're definitely not mates when we have our helmets on - that's just the way it is."

Alex actually hit Lando while overtaking him at the Japanese Grand Prix last year, so did they just go to the pub after the race and chat about it?

"I'm not sure there are many pubs in Japan. We could have gone to a karaoke night maybe!

"Of course, Lando wasn't happy, but I apologised and there's no hard feelings.

"We all know that we're here to do a job and get results."

'It's what I've been doing all my life'

Alex is still finding his feet at Red Bull. He's polite and mild-mannered, but clearly not short of confidence in his own ability. More than used to battling against the odds, Alex insists he can cope with the pressure that F1 2020 will bring.

"Once you put on the helmet and you're in the car, all that pressure suddenly goes away. You're in the seat, you're the pilot.

"It's what I've been doing all my life. That's when I feel the most confident."

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