Alex Albon has revealed how racing alongside Max Verstappen gave him key insights into F1 automobile setup, which have helped him throughout his time at Williams.
Albon is having fun with his greatest F1 season thus far at Williams, scoring 70 factors within the opening 16 races.
The Thai driver has outperformed highly-rated teammate Carlos Sainz since his arrival from Ferrari.
Albon’s true degree of efficiency since his Purple Bull exit was unclear as a result of id of his earlier teammates.
Nicholas Latifi and Logan Sargeant struggled throughout their respective Williams stints, whereas Franco Colapinto pushed Albon laborious regardless of his restricted F1 expertise final yr.
It’s been a powerful turnaround for Albon, who was dropped by Purple Bull on the finish of 2020.
Alex Albon, Williams
© XPB Pictures
Albon was changed by Sergio Perez for 2021 after struggling alongside Verstappen.
Reflecting on his time alongside the Dutchman, Albon spoke about what he discovered throughout his 18 months at Purple Bull.
“I wasn’t within the headspace. I used to be so centered on myself on the time to enhance, and I didn’t actually have the expertise to digest all of it within the second,” Albon mentioned on the P1 with Matt and Tommy podcast.
“So even when I went by the identical factor I did now, I’d be capable to actually give attention to the place is he really gaining his lap time and why, how is he in a position to execute and be so in step with a automobile that felt to me so, so peaky.
“However yeah, I did study. I discovered his uncooked velocity and I discovered… sounds a extremely bizarre factor to say however why is the automobile that he drives fast to drive? Like what’s it about getting into that setup course that will get lap time.”
Verstappen affect on Williams
Williams have scored extra factors in 2025 than they did throughout 2014 to 2018, highlighting their upwards trajectory beneath James Vowles.
That’s regardless of Williams’ focus being on the brand new guidelines in 2026.
Alex Albon, Williams
© XPB Pictures
Albon additionally revealed that he took what he discovered from Verstappen’s suggestions to enhance Williams’ automobile setup when he joined the group in 2022.
Verstappen notoriously likes an aggressive entrance finish, which in flip makes the rear much less steady.
“I bear in mind after I first went to Williams, I used to be like, properly, this automobile is far more steady, nevertheless it’s not all the time fast,” Albon added.
“You’re dropping lap time in sure corners as a result of it’s too steady, let’s say. So we form of pushed it extra in direction of a bit extra of an edgier automobile, and we received extra lap day trip of it. I really feel like I’ve discovered rather a lot in that course of.”
