27-year-old driver admits George Russell played key role in securing his place in Formula 1

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Alex Albon has admitted that his good friend George Russell played a role in him getting a seat at Williams in 2022.

Albon was speaking on the High Performance Podcast about his journey through Formula 1.

Breaking into F1 as a young driver is becoming more and more difficult.

Every young driver is now trying to attach themselves to a manufacturer and then hoping a seat becomes available.

It looks as if every youngster plying their trade outside of F1 right now will have to remain patient with only Logan Sargeant’s Williams seat potentially available.

The young American has had a tough rookie season but the nature of Formula 1 is you have to thrive immediately or get cast aside, as Nyck de Vries will tell you.

Even Alex Albon, who had a brilliant first year in the sport, was out of a drive just 12 months later after a tough year with Red Bull.

However, Albon was able to lean on George Russell who helped him secure a place back on the grid with Williams.

The British driver was finally on his way back to his parent team Mercedes and needed a replacement.

Both Albon and Williams will be delighted that they were brought together last year.

He led the team to an important seventh-place finish in the Constructors’ Championship this year, earning the team millions in prize money.

Russell helped Albon secure Williams seat

Speaking about the Grove-based team, Albon said: “I got to know Jost Capito who was the Williams team principal at the time well which did help me a lot.

“George Russell who was then about to move to Mercedes he helped me out a little bit as well, putting in a good word for me, he was very good.

“And that was it really, it was quite a nice transition and I could tell straight away with Jost, he was very open, very warm and he believed in me.”

Russell spent three seasons with Williams before moving to Mercedes and Albon might be hoping to emulate that career path.

Albon signed a ‘multi-year’ contract in 2022, and we know he’ll be at Williams for 2024 but it’ll be interesting to see if he’s tied down to stay at the team beyond that.

Journalist Will Buxton believes that Albon could be a ‘major player’ in the driver’s market next year.

That could see him join one of the top teams on the grid, but if it wasn’t for the opportunity handed to him by Williams that simply wouldn’t be possible.

He goes on to say in the podcast that he’s very thankful for the faith shown in him by Williams but admits he has to think about his own career at the end of the day.