After an unexpected five-week break that had Formula 1 drivers trading racetracks for sandy shores—think Lewis Hamilton splashing with Kim Kardashian or Charles Leclerc strolling shirtless with his wife—Alex Albon has been keeping busy in his own unique way.

"I think I have a big fan club behind the scenes. They might not be all human, but they're there," the Williams driver tells BBC Newsbeat, referring to his beloved menagerie of 14 cats, dogs, and horses. Fans of Netflix's Drive to Survive will recognize the so-called "Albon Zoo" from the show. "It's so hectic, but cat life is calming. It's a calming chaos, you could say."

As the grid prepares to return to action at the Miami Grand Prix this weekend, Albon acknowledges the break came at a crucial time for Williams. "We started this year on the back foot," he says. "We have to have a bit of time to catch up. The big thing now is just that rebound factor."

The British-Thai driver has yet to score points in the first three races of the season and didn't even make the starting grid in China. But he's not panicking. "It's not that we don't know where to find lap time," Albon explains. "We know where our issues are, so we're not scratching our heads."

Miami could be the perfect circuit for a turnaround. With new engine rule tweaks implemented during the break—changes that followed driver criticism about diminished skill expression—Albon sees opportunity. "It delivers good racing, and I'll be interested to know with these regulations how that plays out," he says. "I think you're going to get a lot of overtakes."

For a driver whose off-track life is a "calming chaos" of animal companions, this weekend's race might just bring the kind of on-track excitement he's been waiting for.