The big surprise of the Canadian Grand Prix was Alex Albon. In his modest Williams, the Thai finished handsomely in seventh place. In doing so, he even took more points than Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll who are driving significantly faster cars.
In just one race, Albon climbed to the 12th position in the championship thanks to his stunning seventh place. Currently, he has collected more points than, for example, Oscar Piastri, two Haas drivers, two AlphaTauri drivers, and two Alfa Romeo drivers. Not bad, then, for a driver with a car that is by no means known as the best in the field.
Updates from Williams worked
So the updates available to Albon - unlike teammate Logan Sargeant - clearly did not miss their mark. "It’s been a very strong weekend and I have to thank the team first and foremost because we had the upgrade on the car. I think it shows that we made a good step and the circuit suited us," Albon said. "The work that has gone on at the factory to get this upgrade ready has been monumental and everyone has been working so hard."
Williams had apparently expected in advance that the Montreal track would suit the team. "We also fitted a new PU, so we threw everything at this weekend. We had a great qualifying yesterday and now the race today was great. To get these points on the board and move up to ninth in the Championship is a nice place to be and it’s great to be able to say thank you to the team and have this reward for everything that everyone has done."
He has improved a lot since his RB days. Pressure got to him in the top team, as you need to perform day in and out. At williams, he feels no pressure and he is exceling now. Hope when he gets another chance to be in a top team (or if williams improves), that he will display the same level of excellence.
Very likeable driver and is genuinely performing with a relatively poor car. It was so nice to cheer for him.
He held off cars with DRS at their disposal. Good straight line speed on the Williams.
He has the go for it approach like Max which what separates him from the others with the exception of Fernando as well.
Best 3 drivers on the grid.
He doesn't get the credit he deserves. He is at least as good, if not better than Russell and Norris. He is doing even better than Russell did at Williams.
That doesn't make any sense. FA is doing far better then SB at AM, does that mean we can declare that he is obviously the better driver?
Folks love to make comparisons with small data points and assuming that everything is static over the years. That is simply not the case. AA had a shot at the top tier, he wasn't able to capitalize. He may very well be a better driver now, but to state that he may be "better" than GR/LN I think doesn't have the evidence to support such a proposition.
Sorry if it doesn't make sense to you. I have no desire to try to convince you of anything. People who followed their careers even before F1, and who know how to compare various relevant metrics over the years will be able to make sense of it.
BTW, i didn't state definitely that he is better, and Russell himself said that Albon is just as good as him. If you disagree with Russell's own assessment then great.
Sorry, you're correct, overall he has definitely improved with experience. What i meant was that the natural speed was always there.
I don't believe drivers' natural speed improves over the years. By their second year their raw pace is already as high as it's ever going to be (unless like Max they start as a teenager then it improves another year or two). They do improve in other areas though like race and tyre management, and lots of other little things in and outside the car that make them better drivers.
Fair point. Still, even if he didn't improve as a driver (tho I saw some analysis of his driving style and he improved in pretty much everything regarding driving), I still think he can handle pressure better and that matters a lot in F1.
I'm not so sure he improved, I think he was always this good, as evidenced by a comparison of their junior careers. His lack of performance at Red Bull was a combimation of three things - the car didn't suit him, Max is better, and the pressure of having to perform in that team.
It was the same with Gasly, who I think is also close to Albon's level. It can even be seen with Perez now. Perez isn't on their level, but the car suits Perez better than it did either of those two at the time, yet he looks worse than he actually is.
Man I wish people weren't always so angry here. Anyway, I'd love to see Albon in a RB/Fer/AM/Merc. He definitely improved alot since his try at RB.
My 2nd favorite driver since 2020 for his on and off the track character.
Twice looking like winning only to be knocked off the track by Hamilton.
Get him back to RB asap please.
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