Alex Albon on having Carlos Sainz as a benchmark and Williams’ ambitions over next few years
When he joined Williams in 2022, he replaced George Russell when he moved to his friend Mercedes – this was a life line.
It was a winding road to F1. Verstappen, Russell and Leclerc’s childhood card rival seemed to have passed F1 Albon for a long time.
Finally, he did it in 2019 and presented a seat by Red Bull on his second team. During half a season, after a series of strong performance for Toro Rosso, he was promoted to the main team with Verstappen.
His performances in the second half of 2019 won a full season in 2020, but like Pierre Gasly, he fought to deal with the Dutch as Gasly before everyone else, and fell at the end of the year.
A year later, as Red Bull’s Reserve, he won the Williams chair, partly on the advice of Russell, but until this year he was only teamed with second -class drivers. Sainz’s arrival is the first opportunity to show what he could do – and he caught him with both hands.
However, Albon’s performance against Sainz raises a prickly question. How can a person explain how he can fight against Verstappen in Red Bull, but now be in front of Sainz?
Albon says: “This means easy to fall into the trap of everyone in F1: ‘All drivers are always at the same level and there is no such thing as to comply with a car or not to follow a car.’
“And I think so many drivers are fighting against Max, just turn the script and put Max in a different car, I think it would still be very fast, don’t get me wrong.
“And for the same reason, some drivers click, some drivers do not make.
“I remember my first tour in a Williams, although he’s still accustomed to what I’m used to, he’s still clicking.
“And then don’t forget that my six -month mission in Toro Rosso is strong. And it’s just swinging.
“I look like a golf, even MotoGP is a great example.
“These drivers, these players always talk: ‘Bike does not fit me’ or ‘these golf clubs do not fit me’. And they change, they change the putter; bicycles, change the sense of bicycle.
“But then we almost don’t see it in the race, and only everyone should always be able to deal with everything. He’s doing the best drivers. But here you see differences.”
