Alex Albon: 'Williams is on the up, I'm excited to get back into F1'

Being dropped by Red Bull Racing at the end of last year was a painful experience for Alex Albon, and having to attend races in his reserve driver role has not been easy – it’s like being the third wheel at a wedding every other weekend.

However the Thai/British driver has a real spring in his step at Monza following last week’s announcement that he will replace George Russell at Williams in 2022.

Having replaced him with Sergio Perez, Red Bull directed Albon into the DTM this year. He could have gradually drifted away from any chance of making an F1 return, given the rate of turnover in this sport, with promising new faces arriving all the time. And yet now he’s back, and with a seat at team that is clearly on the up.

There were many forces involved in his arrival at Grove. In part it’s a power play by Christian Horner, Helmut Marko and Red Bull. Tired of the all-pervading influence of Toto Wolff and Mercedes across the sport – three engine partner teams plus Esteban Ocon placed at Alpine for example – they wanted to flex their muscles. The specific plus for Red Bull is that it keeps another driver up to speed and in the game for any future musical chairs within the company’s two teams, should Albon’s face fit.

It wasn’t hard to do a deal with Jost Capito, a man with Red Bull connections that stretch back two decades to his days at Sauber, and which continued through his later role with VW.  There’s certainly more in it for Williams than just the signature of a promising young driver, and sources suggest that a useful commercial package comes with Albon, courtesy of the Thai side of the mighty Red Bull organisation.

It’s important to know however that for 2022 he will be purely a Williams driver – he won’t be popping back to Milton Keynes to help out in the sim or anything like that. If Red Bull then wants him for 2023 or beyond, the process is in place.

“Just watching the sidelines is never very thankful”

Albon certainly deserves another chance. There were signs of real spark during his days at RBR, but like others before, and Sergio Perez subsequently, he found that life as Max Verstappen’s team mate is not easy.

He’s spent this season racing in the DTM while also working hard in the F1 simulator, helping to make the current car quicker, while also developing the 2022 model.

“[It’s been] a year to reflect on things that I could have changed and learned from 2020,” he says. “At the same time it’s been obviously quite tricky. Just watching the sidelines is never very thankful. And I’m very excited to get back into it.”

Albon insists that losing the RBR seat was not the blow that you might expect: “It didn’t knock me at all, to be honest. I mean, I felt like there’s still options out there. And I still have to focus on on the job I’m doing, which is the DTM stuff, and just work with the team on development.

“So I think it wasn’t a surprise. As I said it was it was more about seeing if there were any options outside of Red Bull.”

“You spend this year thinking, ‘I wish I knew this, I wish I did this differently”

Albon was a Red Bull driver, with all the attention that entails, even in his karting days. As he worked through the ranks he was very much in the spotlight, and for most of his career he has faced the pressure of having to keep Dr Marko happy. Has his year in the DTM allowed him to reboot and enjoy his racing more?

“To be fair most pressure comes from internally,” he says. “I would say I’ve always been my biggest critic. And even when obviously times are hard, it’s more me being being angry at myself than anything else.

“But DTM has been a different experience for sure. I would say it’s much more relaxed over there. Completely different cars, as you could imagine. But I have enjoyed it to some extent. I think in the beginning, it was a little bit tricky to get used to.

“I did enjoy it more and more throughout the year. I wouldn’t say it’s rekindled my love for racing, because it’s always been there. And the fire is still very strong inside my belly. It was actually, let’s say, more fun than I expected.”

The reputation that took a beating in 2020 was given a retrospective boost by the struggles that Perez has faced to adapt to the car and match Verstappen. The team is obviously focused on the Dutchman, and only he appears to be better able to consistently extract the maximum from a car that is not easy to tame.

“Obviously, Checo has similar comments to me about how the car feels, and that kind of thing,” says Albon. ‘I wouldn’t say it felt good to see Checo do badly, because I want the best for the team, focused on the results for the guys.