Williams’ Alex Albon has revealed that his time at Red Bull has enabled him to quickly scope out areas for improvement in a race car.
Albon signed with Toro Rosso at the start of the 2019 season, and he was promoted to Red Bull shortly thereafter to replace Pierre Gasly, who had struggled alongside Max Verstappen.
The Thai-Briton might have had a podium in Brazil that year had it not been for a whack from Sir Lewis Hamilton, who then arguably denied Albon his maiden win in Austria in 2020.
Undeterred, the 26-year-old went on to score podiums in Mugello and Bahrain that season, but those results were, in truth, surrounded by some fairly subpar ones.
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He was dropped as a result, and he took a year out to race in DTM, undertaking test and reserve duties with the Austrian side in the meantime.
Albon then reached an agreement with Williams to drive for them this season, and he has scored three points finishes thus far in 2022, earning him a new multi-year deal.
The London-born racer’s ties with Red Bull have been all but severed, and he is now committed to taking Williams as far up the grid as he can.
However, Albon is not disregarding his past exploits with his previous employer, because his time at Red Bull is now informing his development of the Williams machine.
“It definitely helps to have experience with another car,” he told Givemesport.com.
“It’s honestly maybe something which people don’t realise, but driving different cars really helps broaden your scope on what cars can do; why is it that some cars are quick or not?
“And it’s very clear to me very quickly what are the strengths and the weaknesses of our car and what areas we need to focus on.
“And getting that experience from another team and seeing how it feels differently, it’s much harder if you’ve been in one team for your whole life because you kind of don’t know the other possibilities of what a car can do or feel like so it definitely plays a part.”
Albon is currently facing a race against time to be fit and ready for the Singapore Grand Prix this weekend after missing the Italian Grand Prix due to appendicitis.
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There were complications after surgery, leaving him in intensive care for a night, but he has since recovered, and is aiming to be back in the car as soon as possible.
Nyck de Vries, who scored points in his deputy appearance in Monza last time, is in Singapore this week, and he is ready to step in again if Albon is declared unfit.
It could well be that the Dutchman will earn a full-time seat alongside the former Red Bull driver next year, following the news that Williams will not be moving forward with Nicholas Latifi after the end of the current season.