‘Be a bit harder’: Williams boss has an unusual request for Alex Albon

Alex Albon joined Williams at the start of the 2022 Formula 1 season.

Williams CEO and team principal, Jost Capito, has been analysing Alex Albon’s mannerisms during the first part of the 2022 season, and he has pinpointed aspects for his driver to brush up on.

Albon has scored all of Williams’ three points this season by finishing in the top 10 in Melbourne and Miami, but Williams are yet to score since round five of the season.

Nicholas Latifi made Q3 with an exceptional qualifying performance in Silverstone, but he fell away during the race as the pace of the car showed through in dry conditions compared to wet weather running on the Saturday.

Albon has out-qualified the Canadian on 11 occasions so far in 2022, finishing ahead in 10 of the races during a solid first 13 races in blue.

READ: Williams CEO admits ‘great headache’ as Nicholas Latifi set to be replaced with F2 driver

The Thai-British driver brought experience with him from Red Bull after spending a season-and-a-half alongside now world champion Max Verstappen, so he is more hardened and rounded driver than the one that started his career with Toro Rosso – now AlphaTauri – in 2019.

Capito observed that Albon is as feisty as they come when out on track, but he wants to start seeing his driver translate some of that to the operation off track as well.

“He’s a real fighter once he closes the sights,” he told Motorsport.com.

“But we think he could be more combative outside the car as well, he could be a bit harder on the engineers, for example; I think it would also create a better bond with them.

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“But all in all, we are impressed. 

“His year as a reserve gave him a good understanding of how the dynamics between a driver and a team work. 

“He has seen a team working with the drivers from the side lines and I think that helps him a lot.”

Albon has made it out of Q1 on four occasions so far this season, making it into Q2 in Bahrain, before achieving the same feat in Canada in wet conditions.

The 26-year-old’s Q2 appearances in Austria and France, however, meant a bit more to him, as he feels they were more on merit.

“Before, I only reached Q2 when people in front of me made mistakes, now we have managed to reach Q2 twice on our own,” explained Albon.

“I’m not going to say that this will always happen from now on, but I do feel that we are going into qualifying with a clearer aim. 

“For Nicky and me that’s great, this is what we want.”

READ: Nicholas Latifi ‘super-excited’ to finally receive Williams upgrades

As for career progression, Albon is still a Red Bull driver, but he is aware that there no room at the inn at either AlphaTauri or the main fold at present.

Therefore, he is simply focused on his task of getting Williams further up the field as they seek some long-awaited points.

“It’s no secret that the seats at Red Bull and AlphaTauri are already taken,” affirmed the two-time podium finisher.

“For now, I’m having a great year and enjoying working with these people.

“Of course, we want to get to a better position, so we have to keep working to improve the car, I’m focusing on this year first and we’ll see what the future brings.”

Albon is 19th in the Drivers’ Standings after 13 rounds of the 2022 season, while Williams remain rooted at the bottom of the Constructors’ Championship.