Latest news with #AlexAlbon
Daily Mirror
03-08-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mirror
Max Verstappen 'killed' career of F1 star but now top teams are considering him again
Five years ago, one driver's Formula 1 career looked over after just two years in the sport, but Alex Albon has not only worked his way back onto the grid but is thriving with Williams On the Formula 1 grid right now, there are two stellar examples of drivers who have made it back after being cast out into the wilderness. One of them is Nico Hulkenberg, who spent three years without a race seat before getting another chance and is leading the Audi project on track, aged 37, now as a podium winner at Silverstone. The other is almost a decade his junior and managed to cling onto his F1 career despite having had far less experience when he was given the boot. Alex Albon had a whirlwind start to life in the sport, spending just half-a-season driving for Toro Rosso in 2019 before being hastily elevated into a Red Bull Racing seat. That accelerated timeline came about because his predecessor, Pierre Gasly, had floundered. And it was similarly tough for Albon alongside Max Verstappen, who is and has for a long time been the undisputed number one driver at Red Bull. Several drivers who have tried to survive alongside the Dutchman have been chewed up and spat out. Albon was in that position for 18 months but was axed at the end of the Covid-hit 2020 campaign and had no place on the grid for the following season. As Guenther Steiner recently put it, his career was one of several "killed" by Verstappen. After a year out, he was given a chance by Williams – his return to the F1 grid assisted by Red Bull with whom he remained affiliated. Despite the team's lack of competitiveness, he impressed enough in 2022 which earned him a new multi-year deal which completely ended Albon's formal relationship with his previous employer. He penned a further new deal last year and the general consensus over those three season was that he did a good job. It was hard to measure, though seeing as his team-mates during that period were a trio of racers who struggles to make an impression – first Nicholas Latifi, then Logan Sargeant and, for the final nine races of 2024, Franco Colapinto. It is this year, now that he is alongside a bona fide star and multiple F1 race winner in the form of Carlos Sainz, that Albon, now 29, has been truly tested. Not only that, but Williams have made tangible progress in their quest to return to the front of the grid after almost 30 years without title success and, so far this year, have been the best of all the teams on the grid outside the 'big four'. Albon, of course, had the advantage over Sainz of having been settled in the team for a few years, while the Spaniard is new and has had to adapt to life after Ferrari. But the British-Thai racer has risen to the challenge admirably and, heading into the Hungarian Grand Prix, has managed 54 points so far this year. No-one driving for any team that isn't McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes or Red Bull has done better. His performances have not gone unnoticed, especially back at his former team Red Bull. Before he was shown the door last month, Christian Horner was watching Albon's progress with interest, while adviser Helmut Marko, who is still there and has a significant say in their driver decisions, also admires what he has achieved at Williams. Red Bull continue to struggle with their second seat, with Yuki Tsunoda currently occupying it after Liam Lawson was dropped just two races into the season, but the Japanese looks unlikely to retain it beyond this year unless he can find a significant upturn in his performances and results. Plus, the team will also worry that Verstappen will quit next season if they cannot compete at the front with their new engines, built in-house for the first time. Sky Sports launches discounted Formula 1 package This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more £43 £35 Sky Get Sky Sports here Product Description The 2026 driver market is likely to be a more active one than this year with several drivers out of contract at the end of next season. Albon's performances have made him an attractive target for even the top teams on the grid and team principal James Vowles is fully aware that both his drivers are likely to be the subject of interest from elsewhere. He said in Budapest this weekend that he wants to "make sure we have conversations early enough in 2026" and "commit early, instead of letting things linger until the August break". That would be wise, given Red Bull are not the only ones likely to be sniffing around Albon if they get even the faintest whiff of the possibility of snatching him away from Williams.
BBC News
03-07-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
How Sainz has helped raise Albon's image
British Grand PrixVenue: Silverstone Dates: 4-6 July Race start: 15:00 BST on SundayCoverage: Live commentary of practice and qualifying on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2 with race on BBC Radio 5 Live; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app Alex Albon says he "sees it as a compliment" that his Williams team boss James Vowles believes he has raised his game this Albon himself does not agree. "Maybe it's been a stronger year," he says. "But for the most part I still think I execute my weekends in a similar way."It's definitely not just James. It's up and down the grid in the paddock. It's clear that I've now got a benchmark which a lot of the paddock can reference."The raising of Albon's image is less to do with the British-Thai driver himself than with the identity of his Sainz joined Williams this season from Ferrari. Everyone knows how good Sainz is - he's been team-mates with Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc and been a close match for all of with the proviso that Sainz is still adapting to his new surroundings - car and team - Albon has had a decisive advantage over the leads him by 42-13 in the championship, in which Albon is the leading driver not from a top-four team. And he is 9-4 ahead in qualifying at an average advantage of 0.176 seconds."It highlights the job that I think I'm capable of," Albon the same time, the 29-year-old says: "I would say that my motivation doesn't come from that."I have a quick car now and I go into every race nowadays expecting points. So there's a totally different mind shift."I remember the previous few years, there were maybe six races on the calendar where it was almost like, 'OK, here we go, this is our chance.'"And I don't want to say the other races were throwaways, but the consistency of drive, motivation and expectation this year is at a far higher level because every race is an opportunity." Why switching cars can be like changing golf clubs When he joined Williams in 2022 - as a replacement for George Russell when his friend moved to Mercedes - it was something of a had been a circuitous route to F1. A childhood karting rival of Verstappen, Russell and Leclerc, for a long time it looked as if F1 might pass Albon finally made it in 2019, offered a seat by Red Bull in their second team. Within half a season, after a series of strong performances for Toro Rosso, he was promoted to the main team alongside performances in the second half of 2019 earned a full season in 2020, but like Pierre Gasly before him and everyone since, he struggled to get on terms with the Dutchman and was dropped at the end of the a year on the sidelines as Red Bull's reserve, he won the Williams seat, partly on Russell's recommendation, but until this year he had been teamed only with second-rate drivers. Sainz's arrival is his first opportunity to show what he can do - and he has grabbed it with both Albon's performances against Sainz raise a thorny question. How does one explain how he can struggle against Verstappen at Red Bull, but now be ahead of Sainz?Albon says: "What it means is that in F1 it is easy for everyone to fall into the trap of: 'All the drivers are at the same level all the time, and there is no such thing as suiting a car or not suiting a car.'"And I think that for the same reason why you're seeing so many drivers struggle up against Max, just flip the script and put Max in a different car, I think he'd still be very quick, don't get me wrong about that. But I don't think you're going to see the same gaps that you see that he's putting on his team-mates now."And for the same reason, some drivers it clicks, some drivers it doesn't."I remember my first lap in a Williams, despite being down on downforce considerably to what I was used to, it still clicks."And don't forget that my six-month stint in Toro Rosso at the time was strong as well. And it just swings."I look at it like golf, even MotoGP is a fantastic example."These drivers, these players, they are always talking about: 'The bike doesn't suit me' or 'these golf clubs don't suit me'. And they're changing clubs, they're changing putters; the bikes, they're changing the feeling of the bike. They're always trying to pursue this confidence in the bike."But then in racing it's almost like we don't regard that and it's just everyone should be able to deal with everything all the time. The best drivers do. But that's where you're seeing differences." 'I'm very not result-based - it's always process, process, process' Talk of golf brings us to his partner, the Chinese golfer 'Lily' Muni says having a professional sportsperson as a girlfriend has an important impact on his racing "in many ways"."We use the same psychologist," Albon says. "We talk about our line of business in a very similar way. We have some very similar habits, in terms of our negatives and strengths within each other."We try to help each other in every way we can. And it's healthy. It's great to talk about what areas you're trying to work on, and we work on it together."We do group calls with our psychologist, and it's positive."If you think of it like this, clearly motorsport is a very mental sport, but I don't think there's a sport out there that's more mental than golf."I think golf psychologists are actually some of the best psychologists in the world, in terms of sports performance, because they've got too much thinking time."And it's an inward game, just like I'm trying to create within my motorsport world. And at the same time, their processes are so important to be on top of.""Process" is a big word for Albon. It's why he's not obsessed about his performances in comparison with Sainz."I always say that I'm very not result-based," he says. "For me it's always process, process, process. And every year I validate myself. I challenge myself on, 'am I preparing and executing my best self? Am I doing everything I can do?'"So that's why when you ask me, 'have I changed much? Is this year a special year? Have you raised the game?' I track myself and everything's about myself. So that in a way is very selfish, but it's my benchmark. I benchmark myself in many ways."I definitely feel like I've been able to execute strong races. I look at it mentally as well. I've been really exploring the mental performance of myself this year. Just, you know, in terms of dealing with (stressful) situations."I think I've been relatively mistake-free this year as well. And so that creates a good feeling, a good confidence within myself." 'Realistic' for Williams to be 'up at the front end' in 2028 The difference this year is that the world has been able to see it, because of his team-mate, and because Williams have moved upwards as a a shaky last couple of races, on the basis of both performance and results, Williams are a comfortable fifth in the constructors' championship. The impact of Vowles has been substantial since he took over two and a half years ago, and they seem to be on track with their ambition to get back to the how far along that path does Albon think they are?"We are a very different team to a top team at the moment," he says. "We're still on a journey to get there, and we talk very openly about the journey and our weaknesses as a team."I don't think we are, in all areas, at the maximum of our potential, and that's regarding the car performance. That's everything that goes on behind the scenes, the performance, the engineering."I don't think next year we're going to be in a position to fight for wins, and I think it will be very rare to get a chance at podiums, but that's my mindset, that's our mindset."2027 will be an interesting year, and then realistically, I know this sounds really far away, but 2028 is kind of where I expect us to be, up at the front end. I think that's realistic."
CNA
03-07-2025
- Automotive
- CNA
Williams see fixes for problems, hope to stay fifth in F1 championship
LONDON :Williams are confident they can fix issues behind recent retirements and expect a car upgrade coming soon to keep them on course for fifth place in the Formula One championship. Team boss James Vowles told Reuters that they understood the brake problem that prevented Carlos Sainz from starting in Austria last Sunday and a fix would be in place for this weekend's British Grand Prix. "The Carlos issue, we're very clear on it, it can be replicated on a rig, it can be understood, and for Silverstone we'll have mitigation in place," he said. An issue that has sidelined Alex Albon in the last two races was more of a challenge but Vowles expected a solution by Sunday. "The issue that Alex suffered was such an instantaneous and rapid problem that it's very hard to replicate," he said at an event in London with sponsor Gulf Oil International for a fan-created livery to be used in Brazil. "Whilst the full detail of why exactly it's happening is not complete, we do have four or five different tests that will allow us to uncover that. "By the time we're going racing on Saturday/Sunday, we're in a good place but it will have compromise on the weekend." Albon has retired from his last three outings, in Spain due to collisions and a damaged car, and then in Canada and Austria due to issues that Vowles said were also seen on Sainz's side to a lesser extent. "There's evidence of it being on the other side of the garage as well. I think sometimes it's very significant and severe and other times it's more manageable," he explained. Williams are 19 points clear of sixth-placed Racing Bulls after 11 of 24 races and 107 behind Red Bull in fourth. Vowles said the upgrade, the last big one of the season, looked substantial on paper and would come either for Belgium or Hungary later this month. "We've been focused in the wind tunnel on '26, we've been trying to be clever about how we develop this upgrade so we'll see where we get to," he said. "We need to make sure the car is reliable, we don't have accidents and we operate it correctly with strategy, pitstops engineering etc. "And all of that put together, even with the car we have today, I'm comfortable we can hold on to fifth in the championship. At the performance step, that should only make our life easier."
UAE Moments
02-07-2025
- Sport
- UAE Moments
F1xCricket: Fans Impressed with Carlos Sainz's Cricket Game
Williams F1 driver, Carlos Sainz Jr., recently enjoyed a day of cricket with his teammate Alex Albon. They were hosted at the Lord's Cricket Ground by the former England cricket great Andrew Flintoff. Flintoff showed the F1 drivers around the stadium, giving an exclusive tour of everything from the players' balcony to the legendary honors board. During the tour, three athletes discussed the differences and similarities in their sports. Not only did Flintoff explain the history and basics of cricket, but Sainz and Albon even got a chance to play the game in full gear. This game of cricket preceded the upcoming British Grand Prix, which is scheduled for Sunday, July 6. The race will follow the Austrian Grand Prix, which saw both Williams' drivers retiring. Both drivers are determined to deliver stronger and better performances in the team's home Grand Prix.
Daily Mail
28-06-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
Lando Norris is 15/8 to claim his third win of the season and set the fastest lap - as the Red Bull Ring plays host to the Austrian Grand Prix
Formula One action returns this weekend - as the Red Bull Ring plays host to the Austrian Grand Prix. For those who will be following closely - Sky Bet are offering three Price Boosts for today's highly-anticipated race. The first boost has been enhanced from 4/1 to 5/1 odds and requires George Russell to register a podium finish. Russell has claimed five podium finishes in ten appearances this season - of which includes a win at the Canadian Grand Prix last time out. Additionally - Russell enters Sunday's race as an 16 /1 fourth-favourite to win the race outright. Meanwhile, the second boost needs Lando Norris to win the Austrian Grand Prix and set the fastest lap at 15/8 odds. McLaren's Norris has had an impressive season to date - with the Australian winning two races and sitting in pole position for the race. A third boost requires Williams star Alex Albon to finish in the points, improved from 9/4 to 11/4. The British-Thai driver has done so seven times in 10 outings, but retired from his last time races in the run-up to Spielberg Sky Bet Price Boosts for the Austrian Grand Prix: George Russell to register a podium finish WAS 4/1 NOW 5/1 Lando Norris to win the Austrian Grand Prix and set the fastest lap WAS 13/8 NOW 15/8 Alex Albon to finish in the points WAS 9/4 NOW 11/4
