Alex Albon has insisted that he could leave Williams in the future if things become “difficult” at the Grove-based team, although he stresses that his “focus” is on the British team.
Since returning to Formula 1 with Williams in 2022, Albon has been phenomenal.
He was signed by the historic side to replace George Russell, who left Williams to complete his move to Mercedes.
Albon has perfectly filled the leader-esque role which Russell vacated, with the Thai driver having been the team’s clear number one.
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He delivered in 2022 in what was a poor car and is so far responsible for all of their points in 2023, something which has caught the attention of Red Bull.
Red Bull reportedly attempted to approach their former driver, who quickly rejected the move in favour of remaining with Williams.
Albon has a tremendous amount of support at Williams and is keen to help them progress but believes that they “wouldn’t hold me back” if a big opportunity arose.
“You back yourself. I’m more experienced. I feel like I’m a much better driver than I was when I had the first opportunity at a top team. In that way, I’m not afraid of that at all,” Albon told The Race.
“The focus is on Williams and making sure we bring this team up to the front. And then let’s see what happens.
“I want to go forward and the team wants to progress, I’m sure the team also in some ways understands if there is another avenue to go down, they wouldn’t hold me back for a long time.”
Albon has so far led Williams to seventh in the Constructors’ Championship this year, a position the side will be keen to hold onto due to the financial gains which would come with it.
However, Albon remains keen on fighting for wins, with him recognising that he’s “actually near to my peak”.
“You say I’m young, but I’m not young! I’m actually 27. Which sounds young! In an F1 context it’s not that young. It’s actually near to my peak,” he added.
“I would say there’s a good balance between you driving at your best and the experience and the knowledge you have. You’ve got to weigh that up with how I’m fully invested in this team in terms of bringing this team up forwards.
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“It is a longer-term contract. So as long as the progress is there, then this is going to be a long-term thing.
“But at the same time, you have to also realise, I do feel like I’m driving at my best, I do think I have more to give. I still want to score podiums, I still want to win races.
“My focus is on making sure Williams is that team. But beyond that, if for whatever reason it does become difficult, you do naturally have to look elsewhere.”