Alex Albon confirmed a significant change behind the scenes in Formula 1 by revealing that Tom Hart will remain at Red Bull Racing. The engineer, who was expected at Williams, is set to take over as Max Verstappen’s race engineer next season.
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Although Red Bull has not yet made the move official, the Williams driver’s statement puts an end to doubts about Hart’s future. The Grove team was counting on his arrival to replace James Urwin, who will take on a factory-based role from next year, with Hart set to be the race engineer for the Thai-British driver.
According to previously released information, Williams believed they had secured the engineer’s signing. However, Hart, a highly valued professional within Red Bull, chose to remain with the Milton Keynes team, a decision that caused internal frustration at the Grove team.
When asked about the matter, Albon was the first to publicly confirm that the deal would not go through: “We obviously tried to sign Tom. I think Tom is a great guy, a great engineer, but we also have plans in place,” he stated.
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With Urwin’s departure from his current role already set, Williams will now need to look for alternatives in the market. Albon emphasized that the team is already working on options to fill the vacancy left by his current race engineer.
“James, my current race engineer, will take on a more factory-focused role, something I believe he will excel at. For us, it’s now about finding someone who can continue that process and take over James’s engineering role next year,” he added.
The driver also revealed that he actively participates in discussions about Urwin’s replacement, but made sure to clarify that Hart was not necessarily his personal choice: “No, I didn’t speak directly to him. We had a list of names we’d like to consider. Of course, Tom was someone I saw on the list and thought, ‘Yes, Tom is great,’” Albon concluded.
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