Alex Albon insists he doesn’t need to be “throwing a laptop across the room” to be Williams’ team leader, with the Thai driver’s former boss having insisted that he could “be a bit harder on the engineers”.
Albon’s return to Formula 1 last season was exceptional, with the former Red Bull driver having looked like he’d never spent a year away from the sport.
He was, of course, dropped by Red Bull at the end of 2020 and sent to compete in DTM in 2021, before returning to F1 with Williams last season.
Almost instantly, he filled George Russell’s role as team leader at the Grove-based outfit and was able to deliver some superb performances.
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Despite Williams having had the worst package last season, he claimed a points finish in just his third race for the team, highlighting his talent.
Former Williams boss Jost Capito revealed that the Thai driver is a “real fighter”, but that he is perhaps too nice with the team.
Capitio suggested that some aggression in the garage would “create a better bond” with the side; however, Albon doesn’t appear all too keen on taking that approach.
“He’s a real fighter once he closes the sights, but we think he could be more combative outside the car as well,” Capito said.
“He could be a bit harder on the engineers, for example. I think it would also create a better bond with them.”
Albon has no interest in being aggressive towards his team and is more focused on leading them, with the 26-year-old having his own way of going “about my business”.
“I would say that the way I go about my business is more to get the best out of the people that I work with,” Albon said.
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“And I don’t think that’s necessarily always just being hard on people.
“Everyone works differently and it’s about extracting performance in different ways. Everyone has different personalities so I’m definitely focused on becoming more of a team leader and looking at ways to do that, but that’s not necessarily just throwing a laptop across the room.
“I don’t think that it’s a thing where I’ve got to take responsibility for this and that – naturally, I’m confident in where I feel that we need to go and that was even from the first race of the year last year. From my experience with other teams, I felt I could bring a lot to the table.
“So in terms of that side, I have an extra year now, so that’s even more experience under my belt.”