Alex Albon will race a Ferrari 488 GT3 in DTM

Poor Alex Albon is still very much in bed with Red Bull, even after losing his F1 drive to Sergio Perez. The 24-year-old British-Thai racing driver, who finished seventh in last year’s F1 World Championship, will be Red Bull’s test & reserve driver this year. But he’s going to race for its new DTM team… in a Ferrari.

Yup – Red Bull is entering DTM, which this year is moving from touring cars to GT3-spec racers. Three-time Le Mans-winning team AF Corse will actually run the two Red Bull-branded 488 GT3 Evos. 19-year-old Liam Lawson will drive a full season in the Red Bull-liveried car, juggling his Formula 3 commitments.

As Red Bull F1’s test & reserve driver Albon has other commitments too, so he’ll share the AlphaTauri-liveried car with Nick Cassidy, a Super GT/Super Formula and Japanese F3 champ who will also race in Formula E this year.

Albon says he’s “only driven a ‘tin top’ once back in 2015” and that “they’re really different to single-seaters”.

“There’s a lot less downforce and the tyres are very different,” he says, “so it requires a different kind of driving style. It will take a bit of time to get used to, but I'm looking forward to a new racing challenge when I’m available outside of my existing F1 commitments.”

The 2021 DTM season involves eight race weekends – four in Germany, four elsewhere in Europe. The first round is Monza, beginning 18 June.