Albon: The first weekend of living my dream

Despite a spin that had him red-faced on his first lap in an F1 car in Barcelona, he was unfazed and thereafter he did not put a foot wrong as he and his team impressed with a solid preseason showing. The mood ahead of Australia in the Red Bull junior camp is upbeat.

Their rookie driver Albon, who is fired up for his big weekend ahead, said in the team's Australian Grand Prix preview, “After the sessions in Barcelona, I can’t wait to get to Melbourne and my first F1 race."

"Before testing began, there were some pre-test nerves and I was keen to know if I would be able to learn about the car quickly enough and be comfortable with it. Having done my four days, I think Toro Rosso and I can be happy with how it went."

Although he drove Formula 2 last year, Albon's first laps in an F1 car were driven in Barcelona last month, "For my first drive in a Formula 1 car, I found the car really impressive. Your mind can’t really understand how quick it is until you actually drive it."

"The cars are just at a different level to anything I’ve driven before. On the first day, despite all the training I had done, I felt my neck muscles a bit, but that got better and better every time I drove the car because your body adapts."

“By Day 2, I started to feel I had a good understanding of what to do in the car to be quick, but it was only on the last day of the test that I began to feel comfortable on the edge, even if there’s still a way to go. My team has been very helpful, also because Toro Rosso has so much experience helping rookie drivers."

"They are very open and they know what rookies struggle with. I found it relatively seamless working with my race and data engineers as they got me up to speed as quickly as possible."

Melbourne is a tricky venue for a noob, but it has also welcomed many illustrious rookies that have gone on to become megastars of F1.

Albon has never raced in Melbourne, “My only experience of Albert Park is on the simulator. It’s a really bumpy circuit so understanding the bumps and the kerbs is important as, in order to be quick, you need to know exactly where on track to place the car."

"I will also have to get used to the track evolution from FP1 through to qualifying as the circuit is not used during the year. Apart from actually driving the car, I will have to get accustomed to the fast pace of a race weekend, particularly qualifying for example."

"I was pleased to be able to simulate that on my final test day. I’ll just have to experience it for real once we get to Melbourne," added the 22-year-old Thai driver.