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Williams: 'Signing Albon not as difficult as it looked from outside'
- GPblog.com
The Williams team decided to choose Alexander Albon as the successor to George Russell. However, Jost Capito's team runs Mercedes engines and so it was initially questionable whether Mercedes was not going to put a stop to the selection of a driver who has ties with major competitor Red Bull Racing.
Albon is in fact still part of the Red Bull family, formally as well next season. As a Williams driver the British Thai will learn a lot about how Mercedes power sources work and that could pose a threat to the constructor who in 2021 will win the world championship for the eighth time in a row. Team boss Capito confirmed that he had spoken to Wolff about attracting Albon.
"Toto has no problem with Alex leaving Red Bull to join us. It wasn't as difficult as it looked from the outside," says Capito to Formel1.de. According to the German top man, it was always clear that Mercedes had no say in choosing a new driver. "We have no further obligations to them [in that]." Of course, there are confidentiality clauses that apply to Albon. For example, he is not allowed to provide Red Bull with information about the Mercedes engines.
Albon was the first choice for Williams as Russell's replacement. Because of the ties with Mercedes, it might have made sense to choose someone from Mercedes' junior program, but Williams had another driver in mind. Capito also refutes that the relationship between Williams and partner Mercedes would have deteriorated as a result.