Ralf Schumacher says Alex Albon must ‘urgently’ improve as he’s sure Williams are looking at drivers

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Ralf Schumacher has issued a warning to Alex Albon regarding his form in F1 this season, telling him that he must ‘urgently’ improve his results or risk losing his seat to a driver on Williams’ radar.

Albon currently sits in P17 in the drivers’ standings, with a solitary point to his name following his tenth-place finish at the most recent Miami Grand Prix. The extent of Williams’ woes this year can be seen through the Thai driver’s results.

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After four rounds of racing last year, Albon had 18 points to his name, including a very respectable P5 finish at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. The fine form continued until the midway point of the season, where they began to tail off.

In fact, Albon’s P10 at the Miami Grand Prix marked his first points-scoring finish since last year’s Italian Grand Prix, some 12 race weekends ago. To put things into perspective, teammate Carlos Sainz scored five top-10s over the same time frame, including two podiums.

Albon’s name has been linked with Max Verstappen’s seat at Red Bull amid his qualms with F1’s current ruleset. However, he may actually find himself off the grid altogether if he doesn’t turn things around quickly.

• READ MORE: Alex Albon’s meetings with Red Bull owners could make him a contender to replace Max Verstappen

Ralf Schumacher takes aim at Alex Albon amid poor F1 form

During the latest episode of the Backstage Boxengasse podcast, F1 pundit Ralf Schumacher analysed Williams’ efforts at the Miami Grand Prix following a relatively difficult start to the current campaign.

The Grove-based outfit brought several upgrades to the race weekend in South Beach, with the former driver noting that the race went a lot better for them than Schumacher had expected.

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“Let me put it this way: I think Miami went better than expected,” Schumacher said. “You have to give the team credit for that. And if that’s really the case, then the car was actually nearly 30 kilograms overweight.

“If you factor that out – and if that alone often brings it down to zero – then you’d have gained seven or eight tenths just in terms of weight, without having developed the car any further. That means I do believe they’re capable of it, and I think it’s also urgently needed.”

Schumacher then took the opportunity to outline how Albon is in dire need of turning his results around amid a poor run of form for the London-born Thai driver.

“While we’re on the subject of Williams, it’s also urgently needed for Albon to step up his game there as well,” Schumacher added. “Sainz was already better last year, and Albon has also lost a bit of his shine.

• READ MORE: Alex Albon could be free to make Red Bull return through ‘performance’ clause in Williams contract

“I mean, Williams is in a position where they perhaps don’t need to think about swapping drivers. But there too, I’m curious to see what will happen, because James Vowles is also looking around.

“He’s an active team principal and, of course, he’s keeping an eye on the younger generation.”

It remains to be seen who Schumacher is alluding to in his comments regarding a younger driver who Vowles may be courting.

Luke Browning and Victor Martins currently occupy the test driver roles in the team’s roster, but a full-time gig in F1 may be above their abilities at this moment in time.