Albon: Williams are as “driven to show what they can do” as I am

Alexander Albon says Williams are motivated to continue their recovery in the same way he is determined to secure his future in Formula 1 after losing his seat last year.

He was dropped from Red Bull’s race team at the end of 2020 following an unsuccessful campaign alongside Max Verstappen. Having spent 2021 as a reserve driver and racing in the DTM, Albon has secured a return at Williams.

He sees similarities between his situation and that of his new team, which finished last in the championship for three seasons in a row before rising to eighth last year.

“They’re a great bunch of people,” he said in a response to a question from RaceFans. “I feel like they’re very motivated, very driven to show what they can do and that falls in line very much with me as well.

“We’ve got to know each other in a short amount of time but obviously I’ve spent quite a lot of time now at Grove, so I’ve got to know the racing team. But already starting to speak to vehicle dynamics, the aerodynamicists, all that kind of thing.”

Williams scored their first points for more than two years at the Hungarian Grand Prix in July. George Russell, whose seat Albon has taken, added further points scores and qualified in the top three twice over the remaining races.

“They’ve obviously had a great end to last year,” said Albon at the launch of the team’s new car for the 2022 F1 season. “During last year found great gains and moved up the order, and you can feel that buzz, you can feel that energy within the team and it’s very exciting to be a part of.”

Albon abandoned a move into Formula E in 2019 in order to make his F1 debut with Toro Rosso. Although he considered returning to the series and weighed up a move into IndyCar this year, returning to grand prix racing was his first choice.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

“I was extremely hungry to get back into F1,” he said. “I felt like I did everything I could to get a seat within Formula 1.

“The 2021 season was actually a busier year for me than any other year that I raced in, which is quite weird to believe. But the hunger was there.

“Of course, to get a seat or not get a seat comes down to timing, comes down to a lot of things. But I know that on my side I put everything towards it.

“I did have a ‘Plan A’ which was clearly to be in Formula 1. The ‘Plan AA’ was also, at that point, to be with Williams and ‘Plan B’, ‘Plan C’ was there.

“I went to IndyCar to have a look at it, I spoke with a few teams in Formula E as well. Of course, just as a logical sense, you do have to keep them things in line because you never know what happens. The market is so tricky that you just have to keep your options open.

“So ‘Plan A’ was obviously the one that was strongest in my heart and it was far above ‘Plan B’ and ‘Plan C’. But fortunately towards that kind of middle of the year things started to look good and talks started to happen.”

Albon credited Williams CEO Jost Capito, and Red Bull’s Christian Horner and Helmut Marko for securing his return to F1. “That’s a big thank you to Christian and Dr Marko but also Jost and everyone at Williams and we got we got it to happen. And that was it.”

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

2022 F1 season

• Mercedes told me “you’re wrong” about 2022 car’s problems – Hamilton
• FIA confirms all 10 F1 teams complied with 2022 cost cap
• Steiner “not ashamed” of panning “slow” Schumacher in Drive to Survive
• Albon believes year out of F1 improved him as a driver
• Hamilton sees diversity gains in F1 years on from his ‘traumatising’ experience of racism

Browse all 2022 F1 season articles