Albon unlikely to transform approach to develop as Williams F1 team leader

Albon will enter his second season with Williams in 2023 looking to build on an impressive campaign last year that saw him spearhead the team's efforts, scoring four of its eight points.

Albon's efforts were rewarded with a new long-term contract, but some figures within the team said they wanted to see him be a bit harder off-track, particularly with the engineers.

Former Williams technical director FX Demaison said Albon was "sometimes too nice" and "should be a bit harder in the debrief", while ex-team boss Jost Capito felt Albon was "not the guy who just shouts and pushes."

Asked by Autosport if he would adopt a harder edge this year to try and get the best out of the team, Albon replied: "It is a tricky one.

"I would say the way I go about our business is more to get the best out of the people I work with. I don't think that's necessarily always just being hard on people.

PLUS: Why Albon won't be "throwing around laptops" to gain a 2023 F1 edge

"Everyone works differently. And it's about extracting performance in different ways. Everyone has different personalities.

"I'm definitely focused on becoming more of a team leader, and looking at ways to do that. That's not necessarily just throwing laptops around!"

Albon spoke at the end of last year about working to get the right balance with his demeanour over the radio when dealing with the team, admitting he was initially "very aggressive" when communicating from within the car.

Alex Albon, Williams FW44

Photo by: Williams F1

Williams head of vehicle performance Dave Robson said he thought Albon "gets the balance about right" in dealing with the team, and did enough to get the best out of his colleagues.

"It did change and improve over the course of the year, but he's demanding – don't worry about that," said Robson.

"He knows what he wants and he's not shy to ask for it. So, I don't think there's a big problem there. What he needs is being pushed on, which we hope Logan will do."

Back at full fitness after Monza illness

Albon missed last year's Italian Grand Prix after suffering from appendicitis and respiratory failure, which he admitted left him unable to regain full fitness before the end of the season.

The former Red Bull driver has spent much of the winter travelling, including visits to Thailand and the United States, but said he was focused on "just making sure I got back that fitness."

"I felt like I got to a good point [before the end of the season] but not pre-Monza," said Albon.

"Whereas now I feel like I'm fitter than I was this time last year. So I'm feeling in a good position getting ready for these 23 races."