Karun Chandhok says ‘superb’ driver’s year was hard to judge because his teammate was so slow

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Karun Chandhok has admitted that it’s difficult to judge how fast Alex Albon was at Williams this year because Logan Sargeant was so far off the pace.

Alex Albon’s campaign with Williams was being assessed by Chandhok on the The Fast & The Curious Podcast.

There was a reason why Logan Sargeant was the final driver to have his place on the grid confirmed for 2024.

At the end of the campaign, only ex-AlphaTauri driver Nyck de Vries was below Sargeant in the Drivers’ Championship.

The American managed to score just a single point in his first 22 Grand Prix and that was as a result of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc being disqualified in Austin.

Albon, on the other hand, was superb and his points would have earned Williams seventh in the Constructors’ Championship on his own.

Bernie Collins believes that Albon really outperformed the Williams car, but Chandhok isn’t sure if that’s because Sargeant simply wasn’t up to speed.

It’s a fair point, with Sargeant out-qualified in every single Saturday session this season and barely challenging Albon during races.

The jury is out right now and the 22-year-old will have to step up his performance in 2024 to remain in F1.

Chandhok admits assessment of Albon is difficult compared to Sargeant

The Sky Sports pundit was asked to name his top 10 drivers of the year and was asked why Albon wasn’t ranked higher. In response, he said: “I think it’s hard to do because we haven’t seen him up against an established teammate.

“So, that Williams could be as amazing as Alex [Albon] has shown it to be and if you put Lewis [Hamilton] or George [Russell] or Carlos [Sainz] or Charles [Leclerc] then you don’t know right?

“So, I think that’s the hardest thing as it’s quite tough to judge Alex’s season.

“I think it was different [to Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin] because Fernando he was actually fighting for podiums, he was up there wasn’t it?

“And I think it’s different pressure when you’re fighting further up and we haven’t yet seen that with Alex.

“His drive in Canada for example, superb, his biggest asset this year seemed to be that he out-qualified where we thought the car’s pace should be and then he just his train behind him in a Jarno Trulli sort of way where people just couldn’t get past him.

“He and the team are just working well and yeah, he’s just a top bloke and yeah I hope it goes well.”

Sargeant will want to prove Chandhok wrong next season and show that he’s a more than competent teammate to Albon.

The pressure is only going to increase on the American even if team principal James Vowles has suggested the long-term future of the team is more important than short-term success.

Albon is likely to be a key component of the F1 driver market in 2024 with his contract set to inspire.

He’ll also be desperate to impress to make sure he’s in the best seat possible going forward and dominating his teammate is one way of showcasing that.