Williams chief ‘honestly’ thinks F1 driver who ‘lacked belief’ in 2023 can be champion

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Williams team principal James Vowles ‘honestly’ believes Alex Albon can be a world champion one day even though he ‘lacked belief’ before the 2023 Formula 1 season.

Vowles felt Albon was still second-guessing himself at the start of last year after he arrived in Grove. Williams appointed Vowles as their team principal last January to replace Jost Capito after working as Mercedes’ strategy director. Together, Williams finished the year in seventh.

Williams had finished the 2022 season 10th and last in the constructors’ championship. But Albon helped Vowles claim their best result since 2017 when Williams sealed fifth place. He scored 27 of the team’s 28 points with Logan Sargeant only earning one in his rookie season.

James Vowles felt Alex Albon ‘lacked belief in himself’ after taking over Williams

Last year marked Albon’s second year at Williams after returning to a Formula 1 race drive in 2022 beside Nicholas Latifi. But he only got four points in 2022 from P10 finishes in Australia and Belgium, plus a P9 in Miami. Yet Albon scored in seven Grand Prix, plus a Sprint, in 2023.

Albon secured brilliant P7 results in Canada and Italy with superb defensive drives by taking advantage of Williams’ straight-line speed. He also sealed P8 in Britain and the Netherlands, P9 in the United States and Mexico and P10 in Bahrain, plus P7 in the Sprint at the Qatar GP.

What Albon showed to defend from Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas at the Canadian GP and from Lando Norris of McLaren at the Italian GP served as reminders of the 27-year-old’s ability. Vowles also believes 2023 helped Albon believe in himself again.

Vowles felt Albon still lacked belief in himself when he joined the London-born Thai driver at Williams last January. The 2023 season marked Albon’s fourth year in Formula 1 after doing 12 races for Toro Rosso in 2019 before joining Red Bull mid-year through to the end of 2020.

Alex Albon now ‘has the skills’ to be a Formula 1 world champion one day

Red Bull cast Albon aside for 2021 when he contested the DTM championship after failing to get close to teammate Max Verstappen. Albon only took two podiums while with the Milton Keynes outfit with a pair of P3 results. He also ended 2020 seventh in the drivers’ standings.

But after one season together at Williams, Vowles is confident that Albon has the skill to be an F1 champion. He is also adamant that the London-born Thai is no longer the same driver he was at Red Bull or even at the start of last year. Now, Albon is a team leader who delivers.

“The Alex you see today is different than the Alex when he was at Red Bull or the Alex at the start of the season,” Vowles has told Auto Motor und Sport. “He still lacked belief in himself [but] he has it now. He is happy, he is a leader, he has self-confidence, he works in a structured manner and sets the direction.

“This all sounds easy but the simplest [thing] is often the hardest. You never know how good one driver is compared to another until you put them in the same car, at the same time as the other. If other drivers had to drive a Williams tomorrow, they would probably struggle.

“Today, I know from Alex that he always gets the most out of the car that is available to him. And every time you put pressure on him, he stands up to the pressure and he copes with a car that is difficult to drive. This experience can be an advantage for him. For me, Alex has the skills to become world champion one day. I mean that, honestly.”