Alex Albon's mum's prison sentence, 'hardest year in life', professional athlete girlfriend
Alex Albon's mum's prison sentence, 'hardest year in life', professional athlete girlfriend
Formula One star Alex Albon will be aiming for a long-awaited podium finish at the Monaco GP this weekend, and here's a closer look at his life away from the F1 circuit
Alex Albon will hope to improve on his recent promising performances at the Monaco Grand Prix
(Image:)
Formula One star Alex Albon has enjoyed a strong start to the 2025 season and will be hoping to end his wait for a podium finish at the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend.
The Williams driver has already achieved his most points since joining the team from Red Bull in 2022. Ahead of racing in Monaco, Albon has achieved back-to-back 5th-place finishes in Miami and Imola.
British and Thai driver Albon, 29, admitted to having mixed feelings about his latest performance in Italy after waiting five years for his next top-three finish. He battled with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and finished behind Lewis Hamilton, while McLaren's Oscar Piastri clinched P3.
'Back-to-back P5s and [we're] coming away today a bit disappointed, which is a bit strange to say,' Albon admitted. 'I think maybe I could have raced Charles a bit differently, I could have done a bit better there. Obviously, I lost out to Lewis, and maybe I could have been a bit more patient with my overtake of Charles.
'I was kind of licking my lips! I thought I could even get Oscar up in front as well, such was the pace in the new tyres we had on the car.' Here's a closer look at Albon's life away from the F1 track.
Mum's prison sentence
The F1 star grew up in Suffolk alongside his younger brother and three sisters. However, Albon's family was dealt a huge blow when his mother, Kankamol, was sent to prison in 2012.
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The Mirror reported that the racing driver's mum was sentenced to six years in prison for a £7.5million car scam. Kankamol sold Ferraris, Bentleys, and Rolls-Royces at discounted prices, with the promise of selling them on again for profit. However, most customers didn't receive a car. She was released in 2015.
Kankamol Albon served three years of her sentence
(Image: Vince Mignott/)
Albon's mum was arrested in 2008 and admitted to false representation and cheating the public revenue. Her £4m country house in Essex was repossessed, and police recouped another £60,000 by selling her Mulberry handbags.
At Ipswich Crown Court in 2012, Judge Rupert Overbury called her crimes a 'massive, greed-driven fraud. You persistently defrauded investors. The majority never saw a car.'
Albon has reflected on the impact this had on him as a teenager. Speaking on Netflix's Formula One: Dive to Survive docuseries, he described it as "by far the hardest year I've had in my life," recalling how he "saw her get locked up and taken away."
Alex Albon and Muni 'Lily' He have been together since 2019
(Image: CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images )
Professional athlete girlfriend
Albon is in a relationship with Chinese golf star Lily Muni He. The pair have been publicly dating since 2019. They met through social media, as both had a growing interest in each other's respective sport.
The 25-year-old, who has one million followers on Instagram, turned pro in 2017 and claimed her first professional win on the Symetra Tour in July 2018, joining the LPGA in 2019.
She is often spotted attending Albon's races, and the Williams driver has previously spoken about how being sportspeople helps them relate to each other.
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'On top of everything, we understand and we get each other,' Albon told Golfweek. 'We started our sports as rookies, and we've gone through tough times together. The highs and lows of being an athlete, I think you can resonate that with any athlete.'
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