Williams draw comparisons between Alex Albon and George Russell’s driving style
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The Williams team witnessed a change in its ranks at the beginning of the 2022 season. The Thai licensed, Alex Albon replaced the outgoing George Russell in this new era of the sport. Alex Albon joined forces with the Canadian, Nicholas Latifi to steer the Williams towards a prospect of fighting further up the grid. The former Red Bull driver made his return to the sport after unable to acquire a seat on the grid for the 2021 season. However, Albon was contracted as the test driver for the Red Bull in 2021 and brings significant amount of knowledge to the team he earned at the team clinching the drivers title.
Right off the blocks, Alex Albon has managed to show strong pace in his Williams car. The Thai British driver has scored the sole point for the team in the current season. He acquired the maiden point in Melbourne by delivering an 57 lap stint, which earned him the praise of many in form of being termed the ‘tyre whisperer‘. George Russell served 3 years as a Williams driver and grabbed everyone’s attention with his exceptional on track performance. The British driver secured a podium finish for the team and scored their maiden points in 2021. This meant that Alex Albon had big shoes to fill when stepping into the team.
Alex Albon : The New Leader At Williams
Working at a new team has been a smooth process for Alex Albon. In a season dictated by a race for car development, the feedback from the drivers plays a crucial role. The engineers and the drivers need to be in sync to work towards development for maximum efficiency. The Williams head of vehicle performance, Dave Robson commented on Albon’s driving style saying “He is a lot more focused on the very initial turn in balance; that means a lot to him. These ground effect, low rake cars, the characteristics are quite different. But a good, strong and positive front end of turn in and Alex is happy.”
Furthermore, Dave Robson compared George and Alex by saying “They are a bit different personality and driving style. I think it probably took us a bit of time over winter testing, in fact probably not even winter testing several races, to understand a bit more about that driving style. Alex is absolutely determined and he wants everything, but he does have a different way of expressing it to George. But it’s all good.”
Alex Albon has already set the tone for his 2022 season by out qualifying and finishing ahead in each race of his team mate, Nicholas Latifi. After 4 rounds of Formula 1, he sits in P17 in the drivers championship and remains ambitious to score more points to leave a mark come the end of the season.
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Anish Arora
(130 Articles Published)