Natalie Pinkham thinks 27-year-old is ‘chomping at the bit’ to join a faster F1 team

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The Formula 1 driver’s market is going to provide plenty of opportunities for the 2025 season that many racers likely didn’t see coming.

Just a few months ago, no one would have expected a Mercedes seat to be vacant for next year, but Lewis Hamilton’s shock exit means a place next to George Russell is up for grabs.

Speaking on the F1 Nation Podcast, Natalie Pinkham believes there’s one driver on the grid ‘chomping at the bit’ to join a faster team for next season.

All to play for heading into the 2025 F1 season

More than half the grid knows that they’re currently in danger of losing their place in Formula 1 at the end of 2024.

For the first time in the sport’s history, the grid stayed exactly the same heading into this season but team principals might be more willing to take a risk knowing that major new regulations are coming in 2026.

Hamilton’s move to Ferrari means a seat at one of the front-running teams is now available and that’s likely to set off a domino effect of hires once they’ve brought in their desired target.

On the other side of the equation, two-time world champion Fernando Alonso has entered the last year of his deal and which team he signs on the dotted line for will be the catalyst for several other drivers to make their bid to rise up the grid.

One driver who Natalie Pinkham thinks will be desperate to join a quicker team soon is Alex Albon.

The 27-year-old, was one of the standout drivers last season and easily outperformed rookie teammate Logan Sargeant.

Williams are developing a long-term project right now and James Vowles is excited by the direction they’re going in.

But it’s to Albon to decide whether he can afford to be patient enough to see if they’re going to be challenging for podiums and wins within a suitable timeline.

Pinkham thinks Albon will want to join a faster team

Talking about the Thai driver, Pinkham said: “It’s interesting isn’t it because you don’t really associate the word patience with F1 drivers.

“It’s funny though isn’t it because you’re right, James Vowles has certainly marked out a very long-term project here.

“Alex [Albon], I feel like he’s going to be chomping at the bit to get into more competitive machinery sooner than Williams’s trajectory will allow, I think it’s going to take too long.

“For the sake of his career, he needs to be selfish about that because it is a short shelf life to be a driver.”

James Vowles has already explained that Albon has a contract with Williams until the end of 2025, but as Hamilton has shown, that doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t be on the move.

With Max Verstappen’s future at Red Bull uncertain, Albon has become an interesting option for his former team.

There are suggestions he would be a good fit for Mercedes to replace the seven-time world champion and he’s spoken himself about the opportunities that could present themselves to him.

Pinkham’s assessment that Albon will be keen to drive for a quicker team isn’t a surprise as he’ll be desperate to add to his two podiums and win his first Grand Prix sooner rather than later.

If he remains at Williams for much longer, there’s a danger that his career might mirror the likes of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg – talented drivers limited by their cars – rather than someone like Sergio Perez who finally made the big step up to Red Bull in 2021.