168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Alex Albon has shared an amusing story of how he unsuccessfully tried to find out from 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:George Russell if 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari move was really happening.

Hamilton’s bombshell decision to join Ferrari from 2025 sent shockwaves through the F1 pa🎉ddock and has blown the driver market wide open, leaving an unexpected vacancy at𝓀 Mercedes.

The move had been rumoured for several months and was reported extensively in𓄧 the days leading up to the official announcement. Like many, Albon doubted whether the story was true.

Speaking exclusively to at the season-opening 💮Bahrain Grand Prix, Albon revealed he texted Hamilton’s teammate and his close friend Russell to see if it was really happening.

“I don𓆉’t think drivers talk too much about it. Maybe drivers do. I don’t, but maybe the others do,” the Williams driver said when asked if Hamilton’s shock Ferrari switch had got the drivers talking.

“I would say the only one I really spoke to was George, just to see if the Lewis thing was real orꦿ not!

"At the beginning of the rumours I thought there was no way it co💃uld end up being a real thing, but obviously it ended up being. So that was the only time.”

But Albon attempts to gather inside information fromꦚ Russell failed.

“He didn’t reply to me until it got annou💮nced!🔥” Albon added.

Hamilton’s Ferrari move was the third deal to be confirmed over the winter, following long-term extensions for McLaren’s 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Lando Norris and Ferrari’s168澳洲5最新开奖结果: Charles Leclerc.

Albon bel🦩ieves the upcoming 2026 regulation overhaul has prompted teams to get their driver line-ups sortedꦰ early.

“I would say tha😼t the effects of the regulation change, I do think there’s been quite a strong push for teams to get their drivers in quite early,”🥃 Albon said.

“You💦 can see that obviously with Max’s🧔 contract, Charles’ contract, Lewis doing his deal so early in the year.

“2026 more than ever, even when I think about the regulation changes in 2014, 2017, I wasn’t a part of those conversations as I💖 was🅷 in junior formulas, but they seem quite early this year.

“The whole Lewis thing has definitelꦉy excited the driver market, I’m not going to lie on that side.

“I feel like there is an ur🐠gency for teams to get their drivers in place, the ones that they obviously believe in. The paddock is talking right now.”

The most direct knock-on impact of Hamilton’s move is that 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Carlos Sainz has been left without a seat for 2025.

Albon rec😼kons many teams🤪 will be scrambling to secure the Spaniard's services.

"I think if꧟ you are any team, Carlos would be a driver you would be interested in. The same would apply to Fernando [Alonso],” Albon said.

“In the press confe☂rence [on Th𓆏ursday] he was having different ideas totally about retiring. Not sure if I believe that! But there is interest. There’s a few teams that are clearly looking for drivers.

“I think as well, pa൲rt of it, is how little testing there is in Formula 1 and how tricky it is for rookies right now. It seems like teams are more happy to settle with what’💖s already inside the paddock.

“I think the steps now for rookies are much bigger than they used to be. The cars are quite difficult to drive. They are not that easyܫ to get right, so there’s this ongoing buzz about what’s inside the paddock already.”