Alex Albon believes he drives on the similar excessive stage as he has lots of his Williams profession, however he believes his outdoors notion has been modified by having Carlos Sainz as his teammate.
Sainz joined Albon, who was signed by Ferrari forward of the 2025 season and has been within the Williams setup since 2022. The crew bought on observe and improved, and whereas the addition of confirmed race winners has led to their shares rising outdoors the crew, Williams says he has identified what he has competed over the previous three years.
“Sure, sure, I feel (notion) has modified,” Albon instructed F1’s Grid Podcast. “I feel it was straightforward to dismiss me for my teammates. I feel it will be straightforward to say, ‘Yeah, he is high-quality, however I actually do not know the right way to quantify him as a driver.”
“And when James (Bowles, Crew Principal) spoke to me early on about becoming a member of Carlos, I used to be in two constructive methods. The primary was that he would turn out to be an enormous asset to the crew in all of his experiences, and he was a fast driver.
“I used to be assured in who I used to be, however possibly it shocked among the paddocks. I do not assume anybody who is aware of can be shocked. That is what I say, however I’ve pushed prior to now, and I am happy with how I carried out this 12 months.”
His fame has been given exterior assist, however Arcon says he’s not concerned with utilizing it as a catalyst for potential actions for one more crew above the grid.
“I like Williams’ tales. I feel we’re positively in the proper place. I am not trying round,” he stated. “I am certain I am right here on the challenge. I feel James and the Board are doing an awesome job, and that is what I imply. There is not any cause to go searching simply by trying on the earlier outcomes.
Albon claims he has been engaged on his enterprise the identical method he did final season, however he argues that Williams’ huge development on this 12 months’s automobile has led to eye-catching outcomes, resulting in his efficiency being seen extra regularly.
“I do not assume something has modified. I feel I have been given a platform that reveals me what I can do, greater than something,” he stated. “So I feel non-driving noise could be very centered on driver outcomes and it seems prefer it was an awesome 12 months — and whereas it was an awesome 12 months for me, the automobile allowed me to get to that time.
“So, once I take into consideration the outcomes of attaining on totally different tracks, getting totally different factors and getting good factors, I feel the P5S is a team-based sport.
“I am hungry this 12 months. I really feel like I used to be in a position to present you what I can do. I all the time have an elbow stretch, a starvation mentality, and we’re within the center. We’re all the time preventing, and I can go to any race figuring out there’s an opportunity to attain factors.
“So, in that sense, the motivation is all the time robust. As a driver, it sounds actually boring. Possibly it is in opposition to the overall pattern of the place the story goes, however I really feel like I am driving identical to in a tremendous 12 months. However my course of could be very constant.
