Alex Albon admits Williams star needs something ‘different’ in 2024 F1 season

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Alex Albon admits the FW46 is a ‘very different’ car from his 2023 machine and will force the Williams gem to develop a new driving style to maximise its full potential.

The Grove squad took the covers of their latest charger at the Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York of their partner, Puma, earlier this week. Williams only unveiled the livery of their car, with the FW46 yet to truly break cover before pre-season testing in Bahrain this month.

But Albon has already had a glimpse of its potential in Williams’ simulator, after months and months of development. The team switched their focus to 2024 last July after claiming a few strong results with the FW45. But their decision left Albon driving a car with clear problems.

Alex Albon thinks Williams’ 2024 F1 car is ‘very different’ to 2023

Williams sought to give the FW46 the bulk of their attention after upgrades for the Canadian GP let Albon claim P7. He drove a brilliant, defensive race to hold off a train of cars including Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and McLaren’s Lando Norris in Montreal.

Those upgrades further saw Albon baulk Norris again in Monza with another P7 finish at the Italian GP. The London-born Thai extracted everything out of the FW45’s strong straight-line speed to frustrate his rival Formula 1 drivers. He also thrived with older tyres than his rivals.

Alex Albon needs a ‘different driving style’ to tame the FW46

But while the FW45 let Albon hold potentially faster cars back in Montreal and Monza, their 2023 machine struggled when Williams visited F1’s slower and more technical tracks. Albon cites the Spanish and Monaco GPs as two races the Grove team particularly found problems.

Williams have tried to address the limitations of the FW45 with their 2024 F1 car that Albon and Logan Sargeant will drive. But Albon adds that driving the FW46 in the team’s simulator has shown it to be a ‘very different’ beast and is forcing the 27-year-old to develop his style.

“Very different,” Albon said, via quotes by F1i.com. “More than anything, [it has a] different feeling, so [a] different driving style [is] applied. I think that, let’s see. Obviously, I don’t want to speak too soon. But the [FW]45 always had some consistent limitations with the car.

“Especially when we went to tracks like Monaco or Barcelona, they were highlighted. Low speed was always a big issue for us [and] braking was always a big issue for us. But also high speed, long corners were difficult for us.”

The Spanish GP returned Albon’s worst result of 2023 when he took the chequered flag with P16. Sargent also took the finish in 20th and last place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Albon also ended the Monaco GP in P14 with Sargeant last of the 18 still running at the flag.