How Monza shows Albon's transformation to fearsome F1 battler

In the heat of battle, one imagines that there are two different things that the current crop of Formula 1 drivers have least enjoyed facing up against this season. Seeing a bright yellow nosecone in their mirrors is guaranteed to be one of them, particularly when attached to the #1-marked Red Bull; after all, its very visage injects a creeping sense of inevitability into any wheel-to-wheel battle if it finds itself out of position.

The other is a little more circumstantial, but it's proven to be the case more than once this year: Alex Albon's rear wing. Like Gandalf facing up against the Balrog in Lord of the Rings, the FW45's mere presence ahead suggests to the driver behind that they shall, indeed, not pass. Just ask Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc, or Lando Norris.

Across his year-and-a-half with Williams, Albon has carved out a reputation as being one of the toughest drivers to overtake on the field. While much of that is closely allied to the team's current virtues in a straight line, that Albon has developed that level of notoriety while Logan Sargeant hasn't suggests that the London-born racer has found a happy medium with the current Williams package.

The races in Montreal, Silverstone, and Monza are the clear standouts from the season, all featuring high-speed sections where the low-drag FW45 can scamper up the road and worry about the corners later. "The Great Wall of Albon" fended off Ocon brilliantly in Montreal despite heavy pressure from the Alpine driver, while the one-eye-forward-one-eye-behind approach during the dying stages of the British Grand Prix allowed Albon to defend from Leclerc's Ferrari and simultaneously put pressure on Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin around the Silverstone circuit.

At the Italian Grand Prix, Albon's defence couldn't resist Lewis Hamilton's pass for sixth place, but the Mercedes' traction out of the Parabolica was far superior while the Williams struggled to get the power down. But Norris was kept in check for the entire duration of the race beyond the one-stoppers' pitstop phase, just as Oscar Piastri was forced to spend the opening half staring at the Anglo-Thai's rear wing.

On circuits with myriad straights, Albon has got into the rhythm of defending in the corners and stretching his legs on the throttle pedal to ward off any potential attacks with a slipstream.

Norris could do nothing about the Williams ahead of him at Monza, cementing Albon's growing reputation as a defensive master

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

It's more elegant than simply parking the bus; there's a tacit exploitation of the car's strengths, and Williams now knows at those kinds of circuits it can trust Albon to complete the mission to bring home points. He now has 21 of them, surpassing George Russell's haul from 2021 to become the highest-scoring Williams driver since 2017.

Given that the team nosedived after that year, it's an impressive but equally saddening statistic when the team's history is considered. Under Dorilton Capital's financing of the team and James Vowles' management, the team is on the up - and seventh in the constructors' championship is very much achievable.

Albon's also a key component in Williams' revival, especially as he's responsible for every point on the scoreboard. This isn't to say that he has got it right every time over 2023, as Melbourne and Baku could be viewed as missed opportunities for the team to extend its haul further.

PLUS: How Albon’s career stability is aiding Williams in its F1 recovery

He probably gets a pass for the Melbourne crash, as a spike in tyre temperatures caused by a slightly faster line through Turn 5 slowed him down for the following corner, which ultimately produced his slip into the wall. Baku, on the other hand, offered much in the way of reward with its long straights - but Albon munched off his front wing on the opening lap which compromised him for the rest of the afternoon in Azerbaijan's capital. They were minor errors, but with large consequences - which goes to show the tightrope Williams walks on in its pursuit of points.

His impressive performances this year have made Albon a sought-after driver when he comes back onto the market in 2025, which shows just how the damage to his reputation done during his Red Bull tenure has been repaired with Williams. Thrown into the deep end, initial flashes of promise in 2019 were too often dampened by errors and crashes as the rear end of the car whip-cracked in the corners in a manner to which he was not accustomed. When 2020's Red Bull handled in much the same way, something Max Verstappen could work with but Albon could not, his head dropped.

It was something Russell picked up on early that season and stated that Albon was "being made to look like an idiot and he's absolutely not" at Red Bull. Albon perhaps didn't help himself during that year's Nurburgring race, appearing put-on during his radio complaints that "they race me so hard" - but three seasons later, he's racing with the best of them and making their lives more difficult in return.

After a tumultuous spell at Red Bull that led to spending 2021 on the sidelines, Albon has reinvented himself at Williams

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

"Credits to Alex, he drove a very good race," Norris mused after this year's Italian Grand Prix. "He didn't make any mistakes, which is annoying. But I tried, we had good battles, but they were too quick for us in the straights.

"I think he knew I was there [in Turn 1, where Norris felt he was pushed wide by Albon]. So he definitely got off the brakes and centred in a bit harder than he normally did. If I tried to stay on the inside for Turn 2, then there would have been a crash, and we probably would have done a Max and Lewis [from 2021].

"I think it was fair, we race fair. He did as well. Of course, you have to be elbows out sometimes. And he did that."

Reinvigorated and reborn as a different breed of F1 driver during his tenure at Williams, Albon has another year on his deal before deciding what he wants to do in 2025. Ferrari has denied that it has spoken to Albon about a drive when Carlos Sainz's deal expires at the end of '24, but team principal Fred Vasseur knows him well from their ART Grand Prix days in GP3 and F2. In what is expected to be a wild driver market as many of the drivers' contracts elapse at the end of next year, Albon may be a big player depending on how much the pack shuffles.

Since he was cast as a persona non grata at Red Bull at the end of 2020, that represents a huge career turnaround in the life of Alex Albon. He was offered a second chance - and he's shown what happens when you make the most of that opportunity.

Albon has made the most of his second chance and his rising stock could make him an important player in the driver market next year

Photo by: Williams