Approaching 20 years in Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton has seen a lot of drivers come and go – and beaten most of them. But he had a notable impact on the career of one racer in particular, who lost his place on the grid seemingly as a result of two run-ins they had with the seven-time champion.
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The most high-profile of those incidents happened back in 2020, the shortened season that was cobbled together at short notice after the Covid-19 outbreak scuppered F1’s original season plans. A 17-race schedules was hurriedly arranged, including multiple races at some venues.
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It was a difficult situation for everyone, not least those drivers who were still finding their feet on the grid. One of those was Alex Albon, in his first full season driving for Red Bull having been promoted from the junior team Toro Rosso after just a few months in the sport.
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He had replaced Pierre Gasly who had also been promoted very early in his career but buckled under the weight of expectation. Albon dealt with that aspect a little better and was retained for the 2020 season after settling in as team-mate to Max Verstappen in the latter half of the previous campaign.
