I began watching F1 in 2020. At the time, I knew little about the sport and my opinions were underdeveloped. One example of which was my opinion on Alex Albon. Seeing him get dominated by Max Verstappen every weekend convinced me that he was not a very good F1 driver. When he was replaced by Sergio Perez, who had won a race in 2020, I thought that Red Bull had signed a far more competitive driver, as I had yet to truly appreciate just how good Max Verstappen was.

2021 helped adjust my views. Seeing Perez, a driver I was convinced was one of the best in the sport, be beaten by Verstappen as comprehensively as Albon was, began to make me believe that Albon was unlucky to have Max as a teammate. I was, therefore, glad to see that Albon got Williams drive in 2022 and appreciative that Red Bull were dedicated to finding him a seat in the sport.[1] However, I did not expect that two years later, I would be cheering Alex on every weekend, repping him in my F1 fantasy team and listening to podcasts featuring him.[2] Yet, thanks to his performances, level-headedness and personality, this is exactly what occurred.

Australia 2022:

Albon’s performance at the 2022 Australian Grand Prix piqued my interest. It was only his third race for Williams and he scored a point. After witnessing George Russell’s long saga of trying to get a point for Williams, which culminated in him crying on live TV after finally scoring, seeing Alex almost immediately get points was at the very least amusing.[3] I recall joking the next day that it was like Russell had taken the long slog to Mordor only for Albon to instantly use the eagles to get there. Yet, the manner in getting these first points was what particularly impressed me. After starting at the back, Albon proceeded to drive on one set of hard tyres for the entire race, only pitting on the last lap, overcutting many drivers in the process to finish tenth.[4] Managing a new specification of Pirelli tyres, only in their third race, after spending a year out from the sport, was highly impressive and showed that Albon’s talent was unfulfilled in his time at Red Bull. This drive earned him praise, with the team subsequently coining him the ‘tyre whisper’.[5] My soft spot for Albon emerged here and would only continue to grow.

Belgium 2022:

Later in the season, Albon’s Belgium performance impressed me. The Williams was the least competitive car in 2022 but had the advantage of great straight-line speed. The team used this to their advantage in Belgium by running an extremely low downforce setup, sacrificing speed in the corners to be quicker in a straight line.[6] Albon delivered on the car’s resulting one lap pace to start in sixth position in the race. Despite high tyre degradation on the Williams, Albon was able to utilize the car’s top speed to hold on, defending from a train of five faster cars towards the end of the race.[7] This showed that Albon was able utilize the good characteristics of the car to achieve points when possible, even if rarely. After a season of Williams continuing to struggle to score, this was a refreshing result.

Canada 2023:

In 2023, Williams had a more competitive car that was able to fight frequently in the midfield. Despite this, they were still last in the championship with one point after the Spanish Grand Prix.[8] Yet at the following round in Canada, Albon would achieve his best result at Williams yet. After topping second qualifying, after making a bold call to run on slick tyres on a drying track, Albon lined up in ninth for the race. Following an early safety car, the team pitted Alex, gambling on a one stop strategy. Whilst two stopping was faster in Canada, this would give Albon track position, but would require heavy tyre preservation and defensive driving. Alex had 58 laps to run on his tyres, one of the longest stints in the race. The two-stoppers began rapidly closing in on Alex throughout the race.[9] Consequently, a train of seven faster cars caught Alex, who had to defend for over 20 laps. Yet as he did in Belgium, Alex was able to make this Herculean task look easy. A combination of great strategy, tyre whispering, a daring defense and self-confidence, earned Alex the driver of the day vote from F1 fans.[10] Even more importantly, this was the drive that truly cemented me as an Alex Albon fan.

From his performance in Canada, the points came flooding throughout the rest of the season, as Albon singlehandedly catapulted Williams to seventh in the championship. Highlights included beating both Ferraris to eighth in Silverstone, qualifying fourth in the Netherlands (and then overcoming a bad strategy to finish the race in seventh) and qualifying sixth and finishing seventh in Italy. In one of F1’s more predictable seasons, Albon provided most of the entertainment and was one of the most impressive drivers in the field. Now, on to Albon’s third year with Williams. The livery released today is fine, though it merely seems like a pallet swap of last year’s livery, which itself was solid, if unspectacular. But even if one hates this livery, there is little doubt that Albon will drive it to its maximum potential, hopefully towards the podium.

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[1] Red Bull released Albon for Williams seat but has ‘future options’, Luke Smith, Motorsport.com (9 September 2021) https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/red-bull-released-albon-for-williams-f1-seat-but-has-future-options/6662711/

[2] For example a podcast I would really recommend is, Alex Albon Exclusive: “I’m Ready To Win Championships”, High Performance, Youtube (27 November 2023) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewi3HrvSPKw

[3] Emotional George Russell reacts to scoring first Williams points in Hungary!, Sky Sports F1, Youtube (2 August 2021) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9ZwP4j_fHY

[4] Albon says P10 finish was ‘unimaginable’ before pulling off inspired strategy in Australia (11 April 2022) https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.albon-says-p10-finish-was-unimaginable-before-pulling-off-inspired-strategy.23jsj951dn4F9raD9uoJ7I.html

[5] Albon proves a point by scoring them with Williams, Alex Baldwin, Reuters (25 May 2022) https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/albon-proves-point-by-scoring-them-with-williams-2022-05-25/

[6] Spa analysis: Five key factors in Alex Albon’s P10 finish, Williams Racing (29 August 2022) https://www.williamsf1.com/posts/0c9ba742-836b-4328-9c55-0851d19f0e64/spa-analysis-five-key-factors-in-alex-albon-p10

[7] Albon says he was ‘holding on for dear life’ to score final point in Belgium, (30 August 2022) https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.albon-says-he-was-holding-on-for-dear-life-to-score-final-point-in-belgium.6KKqsElu3Px3dxB9usg47M.html

[8] Stats F1 https://www.statsf1.com/en/2023/espagne/championnat.aspx

[9] STRATEGY UNPACKED: How Albon beat a host of faster cars in Canada to seal Williams’ best result for 2 years, Bernie Collins (20 June 2023) https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.strategy-unpacked-how-albon-beat-a-host-of-faster-cars-in-canada-to-seal.5y9R94fw5GfDDe5aTnl2mY.html

[10] Albon gets Driver of the Day with defensive masterclass, Reuters (18 June 2023) https://www.reuters.com/sports/motor-sports/albon-gets-driver-day-with-defensive-masterclass-2023-06-18/#:~:text=MONTREAL%2C%20June%2018%20(Reuters),Canadian%20Grand%20Prix%20on%20Sunday.