Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner gave two thumbs up to Alex Albon following the British-Thai racer's debut weekend with his new team.

Albon traded seats with Pierre Gasly ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix and all eyes were on the Milton Keynes-based team's new recruit at Spa.

And Albon's ultimate test at Spa was passed with flying colors.

"Alex has impressed me all weekend with his approach, his feedback and his pace," Horner said. "In the race he did a very mature job."

"In the first half of the race we weren’t quite as competitive on the harder tyre as we were on the softer tyre, but he didn’t make any silly mistakes or take any silly risks. He just dialled himself in."

Indeed, on Pirelli's medium compound, Albon struggled for pace and consistency in the first half of the 44-lap race, but a switch to the soft rubber allowed him to come into his own.

A pass on the outside of Renault's Daniel Ricciardo at the left hand corner after Rivage turned many heads on the Red Bull pitwall, and in the media center.

"I said to him on the grid, ‘I think the car will come alive in the second half of the race’," added Horner.

"It certainly did in the second half of the race, we know Daniel’s a tough racer… his move on Daniel, his move on Sergio on the last lap were impressive. To go from P18 to P5 was a very good start.

"I think it was an encouraging start for him. Hopefully he’ll have a clean weekend with a straightforward qualifying in Monza.

"But certainly he’s made a very favourable impression with the engineering team and in the garage. Certainly a good start."

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter