The final piece of the driver market puzzle rests with Red Bull. Their driver Alex Albon has been having a lacklustre year where he has often been outpaced by drivers from the midfield teams during qualifying which has also meant that he has finished behind Max Verstappen in every single race that Verstappen has completed. Bahrain seemed to be heading in a similar direction afters he crashed heavily during FP2 but he had one of his more impressive weekends yet after he qualified right behind his teammate and finished on the podium thanks to a late retirement for Racing Point’s Sergio who is in contention for Albon’s seat at Red Bull. Team principal Christian Horner and teammate Max Verstappen have now spoken on whether this has helped Albon Link to poll: https://www.youtube.com/post/UgywtUS-1pU1b_VwaF94AaABCQ 0:00 - Horner and Verstappen Unexpected Reactions To Alex Albon’ Podium 1:58 - Fast Feed I'm your host Dillon Shelley and first up on Formula World: Horner and Verstappen Unexpected Reactions To Alex Albon’ Podium After the race, Horner summarized the race that saw Perez retire with a turbo issue while in third place and with just three laps to go allowing Albon to get on the podium “Sergio's bad luck was Alex's luck. He had a good start and it's not often that you see a Mercedes engine do something like that. It's unlucky for him, but nice for Alex” Horner then reiterated that they want to give Alex a chance and that no decision will be made just yet “You have to remember that Sergio Perez drove for me in Formula 2. He is a very strong driver. But I've always said that our priority is to give Alex a real chance. No decision will be made until after the final race. We're giving him every chance. We want him to succeed” He then confirmed that they are still considering Perez for 2021 “Days like today help him [Albon] but there's still two races. Sergio is doing the best job he can so he remains under consideration. Today was Alex's good fortune, he had a good day today and there's still two further races to go” Meanwhile, Max Verstappen was asked what he thought about Albon’s podium and he did not hold back with his reply to Ziggo Sports “I don't think that if you drive 30 or 40 seconds behind your teammate, that's very good. I can just be honest about that, right? It was a shame for Checo [Perez] too, because I think he drove a very strong race. It's nice for Alex that he is on the podium” Fast Feed Former F1 driver turned Dutch analyst Robert Doornbos feels that Max Verstappen “doesn't decide in the end either” who his teammate will be “although he certainly has a vote on that seat” Honda F1 boss Toyoharu Tanabe pointed out that they “have not seen a crash like that for many years, but it proved how safe the current Formula 1 cars are” He added that “it was a solid performance from Red Bull and it was great to see both drivers on the podium” He further feels that “it was a positive start to this final triple-header with the added bonus of Max taking the race’s fastest lap” Christian Horner feels that “five years ago, a driver would not have survived that incident” He added that sometimes they “give the FIA a hard time. The halo came under criticism, hats off to them because Romain Grosjean owes his life to those measures” He further elaborated that it was “not just the car, but the circuit” and “the way the marshals dealt with it” that was impressive Max Verstappen added that he “wasn't in favor of that Halo at first because it didn't look good, but today it has saved someone's life” He also feels that his team wasn’t “sharp with the strategy” in Bahrain Max elaborated by saying that they “let Mercedes go in first, which” he doesn't “understand. Then comes another slow pit stop and then another pit stop that” he didn't “quite understand” either Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel feels that “the guardrail should not fail and the car shouldn’t catch fire in that fashion” F1’s managing director Ross Brawn agreed that there were “a number of things that shouldn’t have happened. The fire was worrying and the split in the barrier was worrying” Racing Point’s Sergio Perez has confirmed that losing a podium with just three laps to go due to an engine failure “is hard to digest, for” him and for his “team” He, however, feels that “it’s just a trophy. What is important is that Grosjean is good, he’s fine and he can be back with his family” Did this podium save Albon’s F1 career?