Alex Albon issues ‘totally honest’ verdict on Williams F1 driver’s ability

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Alex Albon feels he is now ‘very close’ to hitting the Williams driver’s peak ability and is deserving of driving a car capable of competing for wins and podiums in Formula 1.

The 27-year-old has only stood on the rostrum twice in his Grand Prix career to date. Albon enjoyed third-place results at the Tuscan and Bahrain GPs whilst driving for Red Bull back in the 2020 campaign. But that also marked his last season racing for the Milton Keynes team.

Albon replaced Pierre Gasly at Red Bull midway through his rookie season with Toro Rosso in 2019. The London-born Thai displayed early promise after graduating from Formula 2 with a top-10 finish at five of his 12 races for the Faenza outfit. He also finished in sixth in Germany.

Alex Albon only showed flashes of his race craft with Red Bull

A move to Milton Keynes to partner Max Verstappen ultimately did not pay off for Albon. He struggled to qualify strongly but showed promising race craft to climb the order. Even on his debut for Red Bull in Belgium, he finished in P5 from P17 on the grid after an engine penalty.

Red Bull elected to drop Albon and sign Sergio Perez for the 2021 season as he only finished the 2020 campaign seventh in the drivers’ standings. Albon further scored 105 points to the 214 Verstappen recorded for P3 in the 2020 table following 11 podiums, including two wins.

Alex Albon feels the Williams star deserves to fight for F1 wins

Albon also spent 2021 racing in DTM before Williams brought the Red Bull product back into F1. Williams team principal James Vowles still felt Albon ‘lacked belief in himself’ at the start of 2023, though. Yet he ended the year a new star who Vowles feels can be an F1 champion.

The Anglo-Thai shone with his defensive drives to get P7 at the Canadian and Italian GPs. He held off the likes of Valtteri Bottas and Lando Norris by amplifying the FW45’s strengths. But Albon feels the Williams racer is deserving of competing for wins and podiums in Formula 1.

“I feel like I’m very close to my peak,” Albon noted, via quotes by GP Fans. “There are always improvements to be done and there are still areas to improve.

“But, generally with my experience now and where I am, I feel I am deserving of a car that can score podiums and fight for wins. That’s just being totally honest with how I see myself.”