Whilst not having the most stellar of junior formula racing careers Alex Albon was through F3 and F2 in just three years. The British-Thai racer came second in his single year of F3 with four race victories before moving up to F2 where he competed with ART and then DAMS where he came third in the championship.

Whilst third in F2 seems unworthy of a promotion to Formula One, the 2018 season saw the championship won by George Russell with Lando Norris second just seven points ahead of Albon.

Alex had been signed to the Red Bull young driver academy programme back in 2012 but was dropped at the end of the season. His performances against Russell and Norris during the 2018 title fight were impressive and once again Dr. Helmut Marko was knocking on the door.

 

 

 

Albon trumps Kvyat to F1 drive

With the F1 team’s parent company majority shareholder being Thai, Alex was to find favour again in the Red Bull family being given the 2019 Toro Rosso drive alongside Russian Daniil Kvyat. The pair were evenly matched over the first twelve rounds but the third place finish in Germany appeared to have given Kvyat the edge.

Next timeout in hungary, Albon claimed the final point on offer whilst his Russian team mate could manage just P15. Meanwhile over at Red Bull, despite Max Verstappen’s best efforts claiming wins in Austria, Germany and a P2 in Hungary, the team were week by week failed to make ground on Ferrari who had fallen back from its 2018 challenge.

Over the summer break a big pow wow took place in Milton Keynes and the decision was taken to switch Albon and Gasly. A number of F1 observers at the time questioned why Kvyat who was ahead of his team mate in the championship had not been given the nod, yet it was Albon who was to be given the drive alongside Max Verstappen.

Kvyat had previously been dropped by both Toro Rosso and Red Bull and was forced to sit out the 2018 F1 campaign. The consensus appeared to be that Gasly wasn’t cutting the mustard at Red Bull and a mid-season switch would suit the Thai more the the Russian driver.

Horner defeats Marko with board approval

 

 

 

Little competition at Williams

Albon did enough to retain his Red Bull seat for the 2020 campaign which of course was blighted by the global Covid-19 pandemic. Given Sergio Pérez’s recent trials and tribulations, Albon’s score of around 50% of the points of Verstappen was not too bad and if it applied to Checo today, Red Bull would be just three points behind McLaren.

Yet this was not enough for Red Bull so this combined with Sergio Pérez being dropped by Aston Martin meant that Albon was to sit out the 2021 campaign until Williams came a calling.

During his time at Williams, Albon has been consistently the better driver in the garage. Nicholas Latiffi in his three years with the team scored seven points across sixty one weekends and Logan Sargeant claimed just the one point in his 38 race weekends – and then only because two cars ahead of him were disqualified post the chequered flag.

So despite his dominance at the Williams team, there remain question marks over Albon’s genuine level of performance. Now the arrival of Franco Colapinto is doing exactly that as the young Argentinian scored on two of his first four outings for the team and has outscored his senior team mate over the last four race weekends.

Ferrari set to sign former Sauber driver

 

 

 

Colapinto bringing pressure on Albon?

Colapinto is the talk of the F1 paddock, his popularity saw thousands of Argentinians make a 60 hour return bus journey to Sao Paulo just to see their latest motorsports hero. Such is the fever pitch of excitement over this young protege that Red Bull are considering putting him alongside Max Verstappen.

The irony of such a move will not be lost on Albon who a number F1 pundits have suggested is under increased pressure but the Thai born driver tells Motorsport Week insists his rookie team mate is not in his head.

“It’s always been about me,” Albon insists. “The focus is always about myself and my own performance.

“It has always been interesting, especially last week, it was a shame we never could finish the race, but the pace and the feeling of the car was much more like it normally felt like.”

Villeneuve slams Clarkson opinion on Verstappen

 

 

 

Williams brand new design philosophy for 2024

Albon had a significant introduction with the barriers in a revised Sunday morning qualifying last time out and the two and a half hour time allowed before the start of the Grand Prix was too short a time frame for the Williams crew to complete the repair work.

With a full season under his belt, James Vowles decided Williams would break with its tradition of building cars which are very effective at low down force circuits only. The team made the biggest departure from their car development this year in an attempt to be more competitive across a wider variety of track configurations.

“I think we’re still understanding the car,” adds Albon. “|t seems like – depending on the weekend – one of us seems to find the sweet spot with it, but it’s not been consistently enough at the moment.”

“The positive thing is that, if you take Mexico, there were a lot of lessons learned from just trying stuff from his side of the garage which genuinely improved it for me as well,” Alex revealed.

“So it’s nice to have that level where we can learn from each other and take from each other’s cars, that dynamic within the team is great to have.”

Team boss in firing line over Ricciardo

 

 

 

Franco makes F1 by good fortune

Colapinto would almost certainly have not made it into Formula one in the near future unless without Williams sacking Logan Sargeant early. The team have Carlos Sainz joining their ranks for 2025 and both he and Albon have signed multi-year contracts.

The Argentinian was not having the best F2 season and he now lies in P6, some eighty points behind the leader. Of course Franco has not competed in the last two rounds of the competition since joining Formula One. Albon argues there are “dark arts” in play when trying to understand the FIA’s second tier of single seater racing.

“You need a very strong junior team and you need a team that truly understands Formula 2, Formula 3, knowing what teams are performing and what teams aren’t.

“Year to year, just like in F1, the top team is changing all the time and there’s not an understanding as to how can you quantify a midfield Formula 2 team versus a top tier Formula 2 team?

Domenicali leaves F1

 

 

 

Just FIVE F2/GP2 winners make F1

“It’s tough. It’s a bit of a dark art I think,” Albon concludes. In reality F1teams now have so much power, they decide which F2/F3 teams will take their academy drivers so it may not be the best drivers who are in the best junior teams.

Ferrari work closely with Prema, where Oliver Bearman and Kimi Antonelli are racing this year and Red Bull have developed a relationship with HiTech and Campos where three title challenger Isack Hadjar is driving this season.

The pathway from F2 to F1 is not simple, with the last two championship winners Felipe Drugovitch and Theo Pourchaire not making the grade. The last F2 winner to find an F1 seat was Oscar Piastri then before him George Russell in 2018.

Others promoted as winners from the FIA’s second tier single seater racing includes Nico Hulkenberg, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, which is hardly a well trodden pathway dating back to 2006.

Hill exit

 

 

 

Vowles ‘clever contract’ stopped Albon from leaving Williams

The rehabilitation of Alex Albon following his mauling at the hands of Max Verstappen looks to be complete. Albon has found a niche for himself at the Williams team who clearly rate the British born Thai driver, having signed him on a multi-year deal.

Yet Albon may not be the kind of devotee James Vowles had hoped for. Speaking during his first year in charge at Grove, Vowles outlined the plans he had to bring Williams back to the front of the grid. His visionary prowess managed to persuade the FIA’s technical director, Pat Fry, to join the team.

“What I’ve done with both Pat and Alex as well, is show them why we will be moving forward on the long-term vision,” explained Vowles. “The best thing you can do is ask Alex… READ MORE