After being humiliated by Verstappen, Albon seems equal to Russell

Albon starts well

The 2022 Formula 1 season is five races in and has already given us a good indication as to how the teams are doing. Despite a year out, Albon has a good start to the season. He has finished ahead of Latifi in every qualifying session and the same was true in every race. This makes it 5-0 in the qualifying duel and 4-0 in the racing duel in favor of Albon.

We also saw this trend in the duel between Russell and Latifi in recent years. In 2020, Russell finished every qualifying session ahead of his teammate and secured a 16-0 victory. Besides Max Verstappen, Russell was the only one who managed that year. Ironically, Verstappen beat the very same Albon that year.

That caused Albon to be sidelined for a year in 2021, but Latifi continued at Williams. The Canadian did get a little closer to Russell. So he won two qualifying duels and finished one race ahead of the Briton. He also scored his first points in Formula 1 but was outpaced by Russell (16 to 7 points). 

Williams' car once again belongs to the rear of the grid and so far they've earned a few points in 2022. Still, with the above statistics, it is no surprise that Albon picked up the three points and not Latifi. The Thai managed to finish ninth and tenth in two races, partly due to a great strategy. Latifi didn't get further than the fourteenth place in Miami.

Latifi narrows the gap

Nevertheless, Latifi came closer and closer in the duel with Russell. In 2020 he lost an average of 0.645s per qualifying session compared to Russell, wherein 2021 it was only a difference of 0.339s. So the upward trend, in combination with the points and the few races and qualifying duels won, had started.

In that respect, the arrival of Albon has caused a setback. Where you would expect Albon to have to come in for a while after a gap year and Latifi to give that a chance to take more of a lead within the team, a very different situation has arisen. As mentioned, Albon won every qualifying session and he did so with an average difference of 0.764s. Only the difference between Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou at Alfa Romeo is currently greater (0.790s).

Although it is now only about four qualifying sessions (the one in Imola does not count for the average difference because of the changing weather conditions), the average difference between the two is greater than in 2020 or 2021 between Russell and Latifi. Indeed, the difference between the two became smaller in the second year, where Albon has now provided growth again.

Of course, the confidence factor plays an important role. Albon was happy with this new opportunity and stepped in without any worries, where Latifi will have felt more pressure. That it was then disappointing in the first races will not have helped. The crashes that followed are also a sign of that. This pressure is new for Latifi because under Russell the great talent of the Briton was always pointed out.

Russell provides proof at Mercedes

Russell showed immediately in 2022 that his talent is definitely there. In the first five qualifying sessions he was only two tenths behind Lewis Hamilton on average, and in the races, albeit with some help from safety cars, he finished ahead of Hamilton more often (4-1). As a result, Russell now also has 59 points and Hamilton only 36. It is confirmation that years of doing well at Williams can also be good enough for a top team.

Russell managed to work his way up from Williams to Mercedes. He was already part of that training and showed at Williams opposite Robert Kubica and Latifi that he was clearly the better driver. At Mercedes, he is showing that that assessment of Mercedes is right, as in the first five races he is performing equal to, if not better than Valtteri Bottas did for the team in recent years.

Recoveries at Williams

Albon is showing at Williams what he failed to do at Red Bull Racing. In 2019, he was moved on to Red Bull after he was able to hold his own against Daniil Kvyat at Torro Rosso. At Red Bull he lost every qualifying session to Verstappen in 2020, scored fewer points than the Dutchman and the average difference in 2021 was 0.597s. Only the difference between Russell and Latifi was bigger that year. 

In that respect, what Albon is doing now is very good for his career. After his year and a half at Red Bull, not many big teams will have thought of him. He was dominated. However, now he is showing that he can beat Latifi in a similar way to Russell who is now stealing the show at Mercedes.

Of course, not every season can be compared. Russell can show himself against Hamilton after three years of preparation, whereas Albon was thrown out at Red Bull Racing after only half a year of F1. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are great drivers, but also difficult to compare as teammates.

At Williams, the situation is also different. Russell did have to win in years two and three from Latifi who was new to the team and not highly regarded, whereas Albon had little to lose after his gap year and lousy period at Red Bull Racing.

All in all, Albon is currently doing good business for his future. If not at Red Bull Racing, his performance is getting him noticed by other teams in the paddock. The Thai has been revived and while that may come at the expense of his current teammate, it's good to see this young talent get another chance.

This article was originally written by Tim Kraaij for the Dutch edition of GPblog