F1 Rumour: Alex Albon Looks To Move Away From Williams As Two Teams Approach Driver
Alex Albon is rumoured to be contemplating potential avenues beyond his current team, Williams, despite being under contract until potentially 2025. His noteworthy performances in the 2023 season have not only solidified his position at Williams but also sparked speculation about his future in the sport.
Key Takeaways:
- Contractual Challenges and Future Prospects: Albon, who is currently bound by a multi-year contract with Williams, has been the subject of interest from two unnamed teams, both of which were unsuccessful in their attempts to secure him for the 2023 season.
- Significant Role in Williams' Success: In the 2023 season, Albon was instrumental in Williams achieving their best Constructors’ Championship finish since 2017, contributing 27 of the team's 28 points. His standout performances, notably in Montreal and Monza, were pivotal in this success.
- Albon's Reflection on the Season's Challenges and Triumphs: Albon, who will continue with Logan Sargeant as his teammate in 2024, shared his insights on the past season, underlining both the struggles and achievements.
Beginning his Formula 1 career with Toro Rosso in 2019 and quickly moving to Red Bull, Albon's journey has been marked by rapid changes and challenges. After stepping away from the grid at the end of 2020 to take on a reserve driver role, his comeback with Williams in 2022 was a significant turning point. In the 2023 season, his contributions were critical to Williams' resurgence.
According to a report from ESPN, two teams Albon is "keen to get himself free from his current Williams deal". It states:
"This brings us back to Albon, who was one of the stars of 2023 and is a big part of this whole puzzle. It is believed Albon is keen to get himself free of his current Williams deal, which has him at the team until 2025.
"Sources have told ESPN two teams attempted to get Albon out of that deal to drive for them last year, unsuccessfully, and several are monitoring his situation as they assess plans going forward."
Reflecting on the season, Albon shared his thoughts with the media:
“I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved at the team. I think about the races that we’ve scored points in and we haven’t had really a smooth race where we’ve just gone, ‘Oh, that was nice’. I wish we had more of them.
"But unfortunately, a lot of them are holding up a bunch of cars behind us, which is what we’ve become renowned for. The car has improved a lot from last year, we’re going into every weekend feeling like there’s a chance to score points.
"But even in that case, our race pace is not always that great and yet we still come away with good points.
"I have to say that in reflection, I’ve had a lot of fun moments from this year and I think it also just speaks to the fact that I think Melbourne was the only race where I felt like I missed an opportunity to score points. But every other race we’ve done this year, when there’s been a chance, we’ve done it and I think that’s been the main difference I guess to our rivals.”
