Alexander Albon sees Carlos Sainz’s joining Williams from Ferrari in similar space as him joining the British F1 team from Red Bull.
Albon had a year out after his Red Bull stint before joining Williams. It was still termed a move from a championship-winning outfit to a midfield or a backmarker, much like the current move of Sainz, where he has moved to the Grove-based team from Ferrari.
It is a move which the Thai racer is excited to see, especially since he will bring a fresh input to improve the F1 team. “I think that’s honestly one of the things that I’m looking forward to most with Carlos joining is I remember my time at Red Bull and when I came to Williams and obviously there’s a lot of things on your mind, things you want to try to improve for the team,” said Albon.
“And at the same time, I’ve spent now three years at Williams, and it’s nice to almost have someone a little bit fresher than me. And coming from a team like Ferrari, I’m sure he’ll bring a lot to the table. And of course, I know he will push me. I think he had a very strong year in 2024 as well. But it will be a good challenge,” summed up Albon.
The Thai racer insists on the short-term loss for Williams which will be useful in long-term gain. The 2024 F1 season was far from being decent for the Grove-based outfit, but Albon is hoping of a turn around and the current years to be a build-up towards a better future in 2025 and beyond.
“I think that in 2023 we finished P7 in the Constructors’ Championship and I wouldn’t say we were always the seventh quickest car,” said Albon. “I think we really took advantage and made the most of what we had. The 2024 season feels in some ways the opposite, I would agree. I think that we’ve been on the back foot since race one.
“I think it’s a known story now, the car wasn’t on weight and we were on the back foot from the beginning and then we missed out on capitalising when we should have. Teams like Alpine, they were on their third, fourth upgrade. We did one major one, I would say, and let’s say where we were in kind of expected in terms of pace.
“But I think we’ve just missed out a little bit. All for good reasons, though. I really think that a lot of the reasons why we’ve been on the back foot is just because we’ve made so many big changes back at Grove, which are going to help us definitely in the future, but possibly a little bit of short-term pain for now,” summed up Albon.
Here’s Williams giving further BTS on Carlos Sainz run
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Here’s James Vowles on Franco Colapinto and path ahead
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