The impressive attitude that earned Albon his second F1 chance

It’s really quite hard to not like Alex Albon. The tall, determined Anglo-Thai driver is genteel and friendly, softly spoken but smiling warmly. That’s clear, even with a mask on. Right now, he’s sitting outside Red Bull’s hospitality tent in a sweltering Circuit of the Americas, about to issue a withering putdown of one of Formula 1’s brightest stars: George Russell.

“He’s actually the tightest guy I know!”

Albon has forgotten that suggestions he owes his good friend Russell a beer or two come from words he himself uttered a month earlier, but the fact he’s willing to offer such a frank and amusing statement is to his credit in F1’s oft-sterile surroundings. And that beer debt is one small part of the reason for his chat with GP Racing 30 minutes ahead of FP2 at the US Grand Prix. When F1 next returns to Austin, Albon will be quite a bit busier.

He won’t be Red Bull’s reserve driver, waiting in the wings should anything happen to Max Verstappen or Sergio Perez (plus Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda at sister squad AlphaTauri). Instead, he’ll be getting ready to drive – for Williams, having claimed the seat Mercedes-bound Russell is vacating.

“I’m really happy, but it’s a different kind of happiness,” he says of getting a second crack at an F1 race drive. “Because it’s not like my first time in F1. It’s not always that common for someone to get back into F1 after having a year out. So, to have another chance and get back into a race seat gives me a lot of motivation.”

Albon’s attitude played a key role in his second F1 chance appearing. Having been dropped by the main Red Bull team at the end of 2020, after a year-and-a-half grappling with a package that still, really, only Verstappen can properly handle, Albon was in familiar territory. He’d been dropped by Red Bull’s junior programme back in 2012, and his time on Lotus F1’s junior books ended similarly when that team’s money ran out in 2015.

The main difference this time was that Red Bull, having dropped him from its race line-up, kept him within the fold as a reserve.

Albon has impressed the Red Bull hierarchy with his feedback and attitude while on the sidelines this year

Photo by: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

And that was critical to Albon’s upcoming return as a grand prix racer. He’s open that he feared he’d blown his one shot at the F1 dream, but at the same time he knew all he could do next was impress in the opportunities his employer provided. Red Bull duly furnished him with those breaks because it valued Albon’s assistance within the team, as well as understanding he is still really at the start of his F1 journey.

Albon’s 2021 duties included a DTM race ride – where Albon won once in 14 starts (he missed the Norisring finale which clashed with his Red Bull reserve duties in Turkey). But that wasn’t where Red Bull really needed Albon to shine. Instead, it was in the Milton Keynes simulator, developing the RB16 into the RB16B. After all, who better was there to explain just how hard the carryover car was to drive?

The team also had him complete Pirelli test runs on the 18-inch tyres coming for 2022 and, famously, re-enact Lewis Hamilton’s line through Copse on the first lap of July’s British GP to bolster Red Bull’s case that Hamilton should have been punished more for punting Verstappen out.

Christian Horner and Dr Helmut Marko were instrumental in getting Albon back on the F1 grid. It wasn’t just Russell that told Williams what a great asset Albon would make...

That last task was widely derided, but it says more about the lengths Red Bull is willing to go in its quest to topple Hamilton and Mercedes. Albon knew his role was to complete the work and do it with the right attitude. There, he certainly succeeded.

Team insiders speak of how much mental toughness Albon has displayed in 2021. The smile might not have been ever-present, but the way he knuckled down and vowed to do what he could in the team’s title push impressed the right people. Christian Horner and Dr Helmut Marko were instrumental in getting Albon back on the F1 grid. It wasn’t just Russell that told Williams what a great asset Albon would make…

“Truthfully speaking, at the beginning of [the season], it was really tough,” says Albon of watching Perez take his place at Red Bull. It was enough for him to give serious consideration to an IndyCar switch for 2022, or the “logical” move into a well-paid Formula E seat.

“But it gave me drive to get back into it. And I would say if anything it almost manifested that hunger. It was [about thinking]: ‘OK, what do I do to get back into a position to fight?’ It happened from the day that I got told that I wouldn’t be in F1, to be fair. And it kind of built up. Three-four races into it, [I] got used to it, but at the same time I got the feeling that I could really help the team.”

Albon has been tasked with passing on tips to Tsunoda

Photo by: Peter Fox/Getty Images

Albon has had an intriguing extra duty as 2021 concludes. He’s been coaching Tsunoda. The pair regularly cross paths at Red Bull’s simulator and Red Bull encouraged them to share their F1 experiences. For Albon, that meant offering his stablemate tips on improving his feedback to AlphaTauri – where Albon made his F1 race debut back in 2019 when it was called Toro Rosso.

“Yuki knows how to drive, he knows how to race,” Albon says of this arrangement. “[But] F1 is so technical, the cars so finely tuned, and little things can help your confidence. Your approach to a weekend and things like that, it makes a big difference. It’s just kind of helping him on that side of things.”

That will all end soon. On 1 January, Albon becomes a Williams driver. Not that he won’t stop by his former squad for a chat or, no doubt, some cold caffeine, on occasion. But just as Mercedes-managed Esteban Ocon is a full Alpine factory driver, Albon has been released to Williams. Although, at this stage, not forever.

“Red Bull would have the option on me for 2023,” he explains. “But at the same time, it doesn’t mean that I treat that like a one-year thing. I understand Williams’ goal. They have a long-term plan to bring themselves up to the top and with their investment behind the scenes and everything like that, it’s exciting. It’s something which you can’t ignore and something I want to help them with.”

The B-side of what for Albon’s sake hopefully won’t be a difficult second F1 album of course concerns his soon-to-be new home. Williams is on the up after its 2018-2019 nadir, and new owner Dorilton Capital is determined one of the championship’s most historic squads isn’t there to just make up the numbers.

“Before there was a need to survive,” Williams CEO Jost Capito tells GP Racing. “A driver who brought money was highly welcomed. With the investment of Dorilton Capital into the team, this is not necessary anymore.”

Since Nicholas Latifi brings Sofina sponsorship to the team, perhaps this is the first stage of Williams weaning itself off a dependence on drivers who bring a budget. Capito won’t say if Red Bull is contributing to Williams’ coffers in return for Albon’s seat, but the implication is he was hired on talent alone. Although that’s not strictly true. The new Williams boss had three key criteria: age, current career position, and F1 experience. It was the final element that got Albon the edge over Mercedes’ Formula E world champion, Nyck de Vries.

Albon will join Latifi at Williams next year

Photo by: Williams

Capito insists “I don’t see any controversy” in having hired a Red Bull-linked driver over a Mercedes one to replace Russell. But it’d be easy to view the speculation over his team’s vacant seat in the few weeks which ended the summer just gone as a proxy war battle between F1’s leading squads (Ferrari-affiliated Alfa Romeo was also evaluated as a 2022 destination for Albon). Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is satisfied that specific contract clauses prevent Albon sharing Mercedes’ engine intellectual property with its chief rival, while the driver himself diplomatically says: “I have no interest in diving in and trying to figure [anything] out. I’m a driver, not an engine guy.”

So, Williams remains on friendly terms with its engine supplier – although it was interesting to note Horner refused to rule out one day supplying the team where Albon will more than likely display a Red Bull helmet livery in 2022, as part of his personal sponsorship deal with the company. After all, Red Bull is getting into the powertrain manufacturing business following Honda’s withdrawal. But, right now, Williams is focused on building back to being a world champion squad one day. And from its still lowly position that means getting smaller details right before moving on.

"Alex has shown that he is very fast, and I think if he is always right in his mind, he is exceptionally good" Jost Capito

That’s another reason Williams wanted Albon. To be a “team player”, says Capito. This means principally working alongside Latifi and developing a better car package. A good thing the RB16B’s development has turned out so well, at least compared with the recalcitrant package Red Bull ran a year ago…

It’s a ‘win-win’ partnership for both parties, although the fruits of their labour will naturally be measured in actual F1 triumphs one day, or at least by how far the Albon-Latifi-Williams package can continue its momentum up the grid. But for Albon, making his F1 comeback with Williams is ideal for an extra reason: it’s a less pressured environment than one where victories and titles are the immediate goal.

“I don’t know what he had at Red Bull, but everybody says that Red Bull is not known to be really easy-going for the drivers!” Capito jokes. “We are good in including and involving drivers. And make them feel within a family. [F1] is a mind game at the end and Alex has shown that he is very fast, and I think if he is always right in his mind, he is exceptionally good.”

It’s rare for an ejected F1 driver to get a comeback shot. With Williams in 2022, Alex Albon has got that, plus what many drivers need when they initially join the circus: a seat away from the spotlight to develop and grow. On paper, as Capito puts it, “It’s the right environment for him to shine.”

Team player ethos is attractive to Williams as it looks to replace Russell next year

Photo by: Williams