The driver comeback story to watch in F1 2022

Comeback stories are some of the best tales in sport – and motorsport is no different.

In Formula 1, the last two years have featured Fernando Alonso’s return from his sportscar, IndyCar and Dakar sojourn and his Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon coming back with Renault after spending 2019 on the sidelines amid the fallout of the final Force India days.

There might now be a shock return for the coming season given the unexpected opening at Haas. With Nikita Mazepin and the Uralkali sponsorship dropped following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the American team has a slot to fill alongside Mick Schumacher.

Its test and reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi will take up what would’ve been Mazepin’s share of seat time in the three-day Bahrain test getting underway on Thursday, but comments from team owner Gene Haas suggest Fittipaldi isn’t guaranteed to line up for the start of the racing season at the same Sakhir track next week.

At the time of writing, Haas is still assessing its options. Recently axed Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi, three low-key races into his Formula E switch, appears to be the leading candidate if Haas opts not to hand Fittipaldi any additional races to the two he completed in place of the injured Romain Grosjean at the end of 2020.

Giovinazzi has experience and important links to Haas’ engine supplier Ferrari – where he is set to share the 2022 F1 reserve role with Schumacher – which would seemingly give him an edge over any other comeback candidate, such as 2020 super-sub Nico Hulkenberg.

Mazepin's departure may invite another F1 return to the grid, just like Albon at Williams

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

But while all that remains hypothetical for Haas, previous experience was a key reason why the only driver definitely set to make an F1 comeback in 2022 got another chance in the category.

Alex Albon is about to start his third F1 season, with his third team. This time, he’s lining up for Williams alongside Nicholas Latifi. The storied squad had had the same line-up for the last two seasons, but with George Russell called up to his big break at the works Mercedes team, finding his replacement represented the first new Williams driver signing of the Dorilton Capital ownership era. Its investment meant Williams did not have to focus entirely on drivers with budgets when considering its vacant seat.

In the end, it boiled down to a choice between two young and up-and-coming drivers – Albon and Mercedes FE world champion, Nyck de Vries. The former got the edge because of his previous F1 exploits with Toro Rosso and Red Bull in 2019 and 2020. But don’t discount the impact of his work to help Red Bull’s championship charge with Max Verstappen last year. This suitably impressed Helmut Marko and Christian Horner so much that they worked to enable Albon’s second F1 race shot, albeit outside the Red Bull fold.

Albon and Latifi were also Formula 2 team-mates at DAMS in 2018, which is perhaps more prescient than it seems on the surface given the new F1 designs, per Albon, feel “almost like an F2 car in terms of the way it responds”

When Albon was announced, team boss Jost Capito said he hoped Williams could provide a “family” feel to the 25-year-old’s fresh start. After the Barcelona running, where Williams impressed with its strong reliability compared to other squads seemingly in the midfield based on the overall fastest times at that event, Capito said Albon “exceeded my expectations”.

"I'm very impressed, he is very good on the information he gives on evaluating the car," he added. “He is quite calm. He has a very good feeling for the car. He worked well with the engineers and with the overall team. He's pushing and he is a fighter.”

Albon said his initial feeling with the FW44 was “pretty good" and that the design was "a good place to begin with". His assertion that there is “nothing obvious sticking out” that needs hurriedly addressing reflects the quiet confidence emanating from his team in Spain – that it is not expecting to be a backmarker in 2022.

Alex Albon, Williams FW44

Photo by: Alessio Morgese

The true pecking order across the whole field is still masked but will be revealed very soon – in qualifying for next week’s Bahrain race. That said, the Sakhir circuit’s abrasive surface likely means a definitive order won’t be set, as rear tyre wear will be a major challenge. Plus, team form is expected to fluctuate more often under the new rules (assuming one squad doesn’t have a big advantage over the rest).

Since arriving at Williams, Albon has sensed the squad is “very motivated to do well”. Following its 2019-2020 fallow run, the team’s efforts to build back led to a series of standout performances in 2021, which were all the more remarkable given the car carryover requirements for that campaign. But losing Russell is significant given it was generally he who secured Williams’ headline results and came to be viewed as a talismanic figure.

It's too early to tell if Albon can replicate his friend’s success. While he carries on settling in, Latifi also enters his third F1 campaign – albeit on an uninterrupted run with the same team. Williams values the Canadian for his precise feedback on car feeling, but believes he still needs to drive more instinctively and not overthink.

But with the stability Latifi’s continued presence provides allied to Albon’s experience on understanding and improving a challenging Red Bull package in recent years – in and out of the huge pressure of being Verstappen’s team-mate – Williams has a solid driver line-up with which to enter F1’s new era.

The pair were also Formula 2 team-mates at DAMS in 2018, which is perhaps more prescient than it seems on the surface given the new F1 designs, per Albon, feel “almost like an F2 car in terms of the way it responds” sluggishly in slow corners.

Alex Albon, Williams FW44

Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

Their F2 partnership only lasted a year, with Albon earning a Red Bull recall to its junior scheme – to which he is still linked – at Toro Rosso (albeit only after wrangling out of his deal to race for DAMS’ FE effort with Nissan). Right now, their Williams partnership has a similar shelf life.

This is because Red Bull has an option on Albon’s services for 2023, but with Verstappen and Sergio Perez getting on so well it’s hard to see a major change at that squad. The bigger question concerns what would happen if Pierre Gasly departs AlphaTauri for pastures new next year, should he wish to leave the Red Bull fold that has, much like Albon, served him both generously and harshly…

But it’s clear that Albon isn’t treating 2022 as a one-year Williams effort, even if he has no guarantee of a longer stay right now. He’s all in with his new team, just as he was a year ago as Red Bull’s reserve after overcoming the pain of seeing Perez take up his place. That superteam saw enough in Albon to get him into F1, into its main squad, and then back onto the grid for 2022.

If he can display the same resilience and talent for Williams in the upcoming campaign, Albon will put himself in the best stead to earn a long stay in the category. He wants to go places. And Williams, now at a crucial and opportune moment in its own, different, F1 comeback story, does too.

Alex Albon, Williams FW44

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images