Former Red Bull Racing chief Christian Horner has revealed that he and the team played a key role in Alex Albon securing a return to the sport with Williams following his axe from the team.

Albon made his F1 debut with Red Bull's junior outfit in 2019 and went on to earn himself a rapid promotion to the senior team, where he was drafted in to replace Pierre Gasly during the summer break that year after just 12 races in the sport.

The then 23-year-old did enough to keep his seat for 2020, but come the end of that campaign, he was axed by the team, reduced to a test and reserve driver role in 2021 as Sergio Perez stepped in to partner Max Verstappen.

Albon would eventually return to the sport full-time with Williams in 2022, but it appears that Red Bull played an important role in him doing so.

Horner reveals Red Bull role in Albon F1 return

That is, according to Horner, who made that reveal as part of a wider discussion on Red Bull's junior programme on the High Performance podcast.

“I think the feeling was that Red Bull was in a privileged position of having four seats, had the two teams, so none of those drivers were just dropped,” Horner explained.

“Gasly went back into Racing Bulls, was able to demonstrate value and go to another team. Albon, I worked very hard and fought very hard to get him that drive with Williams. We contributed financially to getting him that drive.

“Liam obviously having the ability to step back into that team. [Daniil] Kvyat was the same. But the reality was, they’d all arrived there too soon."

Horner: Red Bull juniors promoted too soon

Horner had previously admitted that he wasn't completely happy with how fast some of those drivers had been promoted to the senior team, but says Helmut Marko was keen for the junior programme to be used.

“I didn’t completely agree with the speed at which they were arriving into Red Bull Racing," Horner said. "But there was a determination to have drivers from the Red Bull Junior pool, because I think, in Helmut’s mind, it didn’t justify its existence if we weren’t quickly promoting young drivers, which I felt sometimes was too soon in their development.

“I think Alex was too soon. I think Gasly was too soon. I think Lawson was too soon. These guys, they needed more time to evolve and develop.

“I mean, how long did George Russell have in a difficult Williams before getting that call-up? They’re more rounded by the time they arrive.”