'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Former Red Bull reject Alex Albon feels Daniel Ricciardo's time away from F1 would have helped him.
Albon faced a somewhat similar predicament in 2021 when he was dropped by the Austrian team in favor of Sergio Perez. The driver later found his way back to the grid with Williams.
His last two seasons with the team have been very impressive. He outclassed Nicholas Latifi, which led to his ouster from F1 and he's currently outperforming teammate Logan Sargeant as well.
Albon does contribute his time away from the sport as a great help. About Daniel Ricciardo, who was away for only 10 races, Albon feels there are similarities at play with his situation.
Trending
Talking about Daniel Ricciardo returning to F1 after a break of 10 races and being refreshed, Albon told Racingnews365:
"Definitely. I had a year out, he's had a bit a little bit less, but I really do think that year out helped me. When you're in the circus and things aren't going well and you're just going race to race, you're not really able to reflect and understand what's going on, you're in the washing machine a little bit."
He added:
"It's important to be able to reflect and to improve, but it's also just good where you get time away and you can fully reset mentally."
"The reset is very important": Alex Albon on parallels with Daniel Ricciardo
Expanding on why the break helped, Alex Albon said that it gives the drivers some time to reset their mindset. Daniel Ricciardo had also talked about how mentally he just didn't want to drive this season and it wasn't until the race in Australia that the passion came back.
Talking about the reset process, Albon said:
"The reset is very important, you start to lose a bit of confidence and having time away gets rid of the demons in some respects. I valued my time in DTM because it was actually driving something a little bit different."
He added:
"But it gave me confidence in a different kind of way, because I was still driving a racing car. You still need to be confident driving that car kind of car and it did that to me."
Albon added that he felt confident after returning to action and believes Ricciardo will feel the same:
"Then it felt like when it came back into my first winter testing back in the Williams, straightaway it felt like I was more confident than I left. Just seeing Daniel and seeing the buzz he has, I think that's happened to him as well."
Both Alex Albon and Daniel Ricciardo have been great additions to the grid and it remains to be seen what is in store for these two drivers in the future.
