FORMER Essex schoolboy Alex Albon will take his place on the grid for his F1 Red Bull debut later today.

The 23-year-old has had a whirlwind of an eight months since joining the topflight racing series.

Today he will represent Red Bull in the Belgian Grand Prix, starting from 18th place on the grid after qualifying.

Although he placed 14th on Saturday he will start from towards the back of the field due to penalties.

Alex, who is a former pupil at Littlegarth School, in Nayland, started his F1 career with Toro Rosso at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Since then he has scored points at five of the 12 Grand Prix held this year - his best finish was sixth place at a rain-hit German Grand Prix.

Over the summer it was announced he had been promoted to the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing team, the sister team of Toro Rosso.

He will race alongside race winner Max Verstappen today after replacing Pierre Gasly as the second Red Bill driver.

The Belgian GP starts at 2.10pm this afternoon.

You can watch the action live on Sky Sports or the highlights on Channel 4 from 7pm tonight.