F1 team boss says one of his drivers becomes an ‘aggressive creature’ on track

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Williams team principal James Vowles has admitted that Thai driver Alexander Albon is the backbone of the team now.

Alex Albon scored the highest proportion of points for his team than any other driver on the grid in 2023.

Speaking to Speedcafe, James Vowles gave an in-depth assessment of his time working with the £45,000-a-week driver after he continued to improve his growing reputation in the sport last year.

Although pre-season testing doesn’t start for more than another month, every F1 team will be starting to get excited about the 2024 season.

They’ll be hoping that the development they’re currently working on with close the gap on champions Red Bull.

That’s going to be easier said than done and realistically, half the teams on the grid have no chance of getting close to the Austrian outfit.

Williams are one of those manufacturers, but team principal James Vowles believes Albon is their secret weapon right now and has become the backbone of the team.

Logan Sargeant struggled to match his more experienced teammate throughout his rookie season.

It meant that the Thai driver had to shoulder the burden of scoring nearly every point for Williams last year.

He did a fantastic job under those circumstances and while this could end up being his final year at the team, Vowles believes he’s improved immensely during his time at Williams.

Vowles claims Albon is the backbone of Williams

Speaking about his senior driver, Vowles said: “Alex [Albon] I’ve known since 2016. He’s fiercely competitive.

“He’s actually very much two different characters. If you spoke to him right now, you’d think he’s the loveliest man I’ve ever met that’s driven a fast car.

“Put the helmet on and actually you see a little bit more of this aggressive creature that pops out, which is why he’s quite happy holding up, well at some points half the field as it was in a number of races.

“Elbows out and takes no prisoners. That’s what I like about him, he’s got a maturity that’s really come into its own this year.

“I think you’ve seen Alex this year grow as well. The Alex I knew right at the beginning when I first joined was a little restrained in some of his actions, a little bit perhaps not as vocal as he could have been and perhaps not as confident in his ability as he could have been as well.

“The Alex at the end of the year is really one that has come out of his shell and I’ve described him as a champion driver, I’ve had the fortune to work with a number of champions in my time and there are drives this year that are on that level.

“I’m incredibly pleased he’s here and obviously he’s become the backbone of why we’ve had success this year.”

Albon will be pleased to hear that Vowles thinks he’s the backbone of the team, but will be dreaming of racing further up the grid in the future.

He’s admitted the team’s aims don’t line up with his right now and he’s a potential option for Audi in 2026.

Albon has said that he dreams of racing for Ferrari one day and considering Carlos Sainz’s future looks uncertain, that dream could end up being a reality.