96-race F1 driver told his manager should have been trying to get him a Ferrari seat this year

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The 2025 Formula 1 grid is nearly complete with only a handful of seats left to fill before the start of next season.

Mercedes have still yet to confirm that youngster Kimi Antonelli will be joining George Russell on the off chance that Max Verstappen will make himself available.

Then there’s Daniel Ricciardo’s RB seat which could go to a handful of different drivers and it’s not out of the question that the Australian may even earn a promotion if Sergio Perez doesn’t improve his form.

The other two available seats are at Alpine and Sauber and both teams have plenty of options available to them.

However, the volatility of the driver market has seen some drivers commit early to staying at their current team or jumping ship hoping for an improvement elsewhere.

Writing in his column for Formule1.nl, former F1 driver and Dutch pundit Tim Coronel has been assessing the current grid during the summer break.

Coronel has previously said that Hulkenberg may have had his time in F1 although he has been impressed with his performances this season.

Yuki Tsunoda has also been described as described as childish by Coronel but on the whole, the Japanese driver has also done very well.

However, Coronel has now suggested that Williams driver Alex Albon’s management team is letting him down.

He believes that they should have been trying to get him a seat at Ferrari or a similar top team after years of impressing with the current backmarkers.

Instead, he’s renewed his contract with James Vowles’s team and will be joined by Carlos Sainz for the next two campaigns.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

Tim Coronel says Alex Albon’s management should have been trying to get him a Ferrari seat

Talking about the Thai driver who has 96 Grand Prix entries under his belt, Coronel said: “With Albon I mainly see a lack of good guidance.

“He deserved a manager who would have put a crowbar in the door at Ferrari, for example. You can just see that Albon does too much himself.

“I think it is the task of his management to create opportunities. But that does not happen, so Albon has to do it all himself, while he is also a driver.

“But if you look purely at his qualities as a driver, then I say: he is better than his team, much better.”

READ MORE: Williams driver Alex Albon’s life outside F1 from net worth, girlfriend to parents

Williams hoping to benefit from Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz partnership

Albon is 28 years old and while he can afford to stay at Williams for a little while longer, if he has title ambitions, his next contract may have to be signed with another team.

However, he faces a tough challenge up against Sainz next season who will similarly be hoping to return to a team of Ferrari’s stature sooner rather than later.

Albon has been encouraged by Williams’s Mercedes power units for the next F1 ruleset and that may put them among the top teams once again.

If it doesn’t, then Albon needs to make sure he beats his teammate to attract the interest of the top teams in the sport and avoid becoming another driver who simply floats around the midfield.

Vowles has huge ambitions for Williams and will be pleased he’s got arguably the strongest driver pairing in the midfield.

Williams need to deliver a car capable of extracting the maximum out of both of their drivers.