Alex Albon on Hot Laps, Hot Chilies, and Slowing Down Off Track

The Atlassian Williams F1 driver talks to Vogue Philippines about his race-day rituals, his upcoming honeymoon, and being a home hero across Asia.

When he’s behind the wheel of his Atlassian Williams F1 race car, Alex Albon is moving at over 300 kilometers per hour. Life at full speed has taken him to all corners of the world, and while the excitement is off the charts, it’s difficult to see the view when you’re driving a race-engineered rocket ship.

There is no fixed formula in the life of a Formula 1 driver. With 23 races across the world this season, moving from one race track to the next means that not having a routine is exactly the routine. For Alex, rituals are what keep him anchored wherever in the world he finds himself laying his head to sleep. Amid a hectic race weekend, when media and fans clamor for his attention the moment he takes off his race helmet, Alex seeks solace in quiet hotel corners.

High up in a hotel, in a room tucked away from the elevators, Alex is able to find some solitude. “I feel like an introvert once I walk into the bedroom. I switch off and it’s my own little sanctuary.” 

A longtime fan of F1 legend and former Scuderia Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher, Alex famously had a childhood bedroom that was furnished entirely in red. These days, he can confirm that a room doesn’t need to be colored red for him to feel at home. Instead, for the British-Thai driver, calming scents and the smell of lemongrass are what bring him that sense of home no matter where he goes.

Once the door clicks shut, his personal routine kicks in. “I FaceTime my fiancé, take a shower, and then,” Alex explains, “I use my Shiftwave chair, which helps promote sleep. I use it wherever I go.” 

Race day preparations don’t end when Alex leaves the F1 paddock. However, he limits the amount of off-track work he does. As much as possible, the bedroom or in most cases, the hotel room, is off-limits to work. “I’ve learned to do as little work as I can in the bedroom because I think it upsets the energy and you don’t want to create too much cortisol before you go to bed.”

Instead, Alex makes sure he spends this time saying good night to his fiancé, Lily Muni He, who is frequently miles away in another country. It comes as no surprise that Alex’s favorite races are those where he can extend his time to see Lily, a professional golfer who is in the United States most days. He admits, “I enjoy races where I can tag a trip to see Lily, so tracks like Austin or Mexico.”

Alex’s fans also enjoy it when he can extend a race weekend and include a trip with Lily. It gives them a glimpse of the couple’s fun-loving, often silly dynamic. Over the summer, the couple began sharing their culinary adventures, taste-testing a smorgasbord of local meals in restaurants around the world. Fittingly titled Al-bon Appétit, with four episodes out so far, fans will want to see if Asian restaurants take the lead in their Formula Yum scoreboard.

A self-proclaimed foodie even before he began in F1, Alex says he and Lily will eat anything. One evening they could be enjoying a spicy hot pot and the following morning, digging into avocado toast for breakfast. While the sport gives him the opportunity to enjoy many cultures, it’s actually Lily, who’s from Sichuan, China, who has expanded his epicurean habits. 

“Lily has introduced me to new foods, and I’ve definitely explored my Asian palate a lot more,” Alex says. “I eat a lot more Chinese food—not like takeaway, the real stuff. I also love Korean food. I get a real craving for that when I’m on the road.” However, unlike Lily, who can eat anything and everything spicy, especially Sichuan peppers, Alex says he can only manage Thai chilies.

With an additional grand prix in Asia this season, Alex may have the extended opportunity to indulge in Asian cuisine between races in Malaysia and Singapore, that’s if he can manage to get past the hordes of fans waiting to see him. As the only Asian driver competing under an Asian flag in every single race this season, he’s considered a home hero across the continent. 

“I would say that the fan engagement generally is a lot higher for me when we go to Asia. I feel a lot of support and my weekends are a little bit busier. We tend to do a lot more activations around the Asian races, which I enjoy,” Alex admits. This inevitably means that any exploration he does during his own personal time can easily morph into an unintended fan event.

Alex has to be strategic in navigating city streets on his own. Last season, a food trip to a Singapore hawker meant having dinner at 1:30 A.M. “I always want to explore, and I still go out. It’s more around what days I go and the timings we leave the hotel. We plan these things maybe a week before to de-escalate and reduce the hecticness of it,” Alex divulges.

With F1 viewership now approaching a billion and with no signs of slowing down, Alex may need to adopt new tactics to keep up his low-key city adventures, especially as he and Lily plan their upcoming honeymoon. “I think we’re so lucky. We’re planning our honeymoon, and we’re struggling to think of places we haven’t been to. It’s a very big privilege to have,” Alex is quick to recognize.

While the couple is quite tight-lipped about their relationship, it’s heartwarming to hear Alex frequently mention Lily in conversation. Speaking of their upcoming honeymoon, Alex openly shares, “We really like mixing it up. We’re thinking about splitting it in two. We cannot sit on a beach for too long. We’re those kinds of people. Maybe four or five days is the maximum and then we’ll move along to a busy destination.” 

While details of their wedding and honeymoon are under wraps, given their shared background and love for the continent, it would be unsurprising if the couple tie the knot in proximity to their home countries. After all, as Alex himself says, “We love Asian food, we love Asian cities. I think the energy from a city in Asia is always memorable. We collect lots of memories along the way.”

As he explains their criteria for choosing a honeymoon destination, Alex reveals that Amanpulo was in the running. “We were interested in staying a few days in the Philippines. We were thinking about going on a sailing trip around there and then going into the city to just walk around and explore a bit more.” While they were close to booking the resort, they’re saving island hopping and wandering through the bustling city streets of the Philippines for next time. 

It may be for the best so Alex can plan for an extended stay. He’ll need time not only to play tourist and have a taste of Philippine delicacies, including the local siling labuyo or wild chili, but also to meet his large contingent of Filipino fans. Alex shares, “We honestly thought about that. We’re really amazed at the fan base we have in the Philippines.” He continues, “I think it’s all Formula 1 drivers. We see a lot of comments from the Philippines.”

“I’m amazed by the love and the passion of the fan base in the Philippines,” he emphasizes. Perhaps referring to another Alex who hails from the Philippines and has been making her own mark in international tennis, Alex goes on to share, “I see these celebrities, and they have such a strong fan base around them always. It’s very cool.”

With his own global following, Alex’s influence has extended far beyond the race track. As fellow F1 driver and reigning champion Lando Norris launches a Singapore pop-up for his own Quadrant brand, the McLaren driver tapped Alex for their first F1 driver apparel collaboration.

Describing his own sense of style, Alex says, “I’m someone who’s born into a country, style, and family that’s more, kind of, reserved and quiet. And so it’s lovely to be able to get out of my comfort zone in many ways.” Having a fashion-forward fiancé has also encouraged Alex to explore new fashion horizons when he’s out of his race suit. “I think Lily has a very experimental, open-minded, and very specific style. I’ve taken a lot of inspiration from it. Seeing Lily be so comfortable in her own clothes, you feed off that energy for sure,” Alex acknowledges.

Getting out of his comfort zone is one thing, but staying comfortable is another thing entirely. When you log countless hours in a plane, comfortable clothing is understandably a top priority. For Alex, that can mean wearing a specific set of pajamas or slipping into his favorite pair of Crocs. Fortunately, with Marks & Spencer as the official travel kit partner of the Atlassian Williams F1 team, his travel outfits are always on point and checked in. “All these kinds of things just make the travel side of our sport a bit easier,” Alex says.

While he moonlights as a food critic, plays unassuming tourist, and adds fashion collaborator to his credentials, Alex’s main focus is getting the Atlassian Williams F1 team further up the grid and onto the podium, alongside teammate Carlos Sainz. As he begins his sixth consecutive season with the team in 2027, Alex reveals, “I think the biggest thing when you race with the same team across two regulation sets is it’s taught me what’s important.” He continues, “It’s made me understand what areas I should have been more vocal in and what areas I need to hold the team accountable for into next year for example, and also, of course, when the regulation set changes again.”

While lap times are measured down to the last thousandths of a second, what can’t be measured is Alex’s influence and impact on the next generation of athletes. Aspiring race car drivers from Asia, from countries not typically represented at the pinnacle of motorsport, can look to Alex and be inspired by his own journey. As F1 races through Asia, they can have a close-up view of Alex doing a hot lap or if they’re lucky, cross paths with him and Lily as they indulge in their favorite hot chilies.