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Alex Albon recently opened up about his time as Max Verstappen's teammate at Red Bull back in 2019 and 2020. He revealed his learnings, explaining how his experience with the team shaped his performance at Williams Racing.
Red Bull signed Albon mid-season in 2019, replacing Pierre Gasly, who was driving alongside Verstappen at the time. From there on till the end of the 2020 season, the British-Thai driver drove for the Milton Keynes-based team. He showcased some consistent performances, but they weren't strong enough compared to his teammate. He then moved to Williams in the 2022 F1 season and has been racing there since.
Looking back at the experience, Alex Albon revealed that he found the car too "peaky" and was taken aback by how Max Verstappen managed to outperform him in the races.
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"I'd be able to kind of really focus on, okay where's he truly gaining his lap time and how is he able to execute and be so consistent with a card that felt to me so peaky," he said (speaking on P1 With Matt and Tommy)
However, he explained that he also learned by gaining raw time from Verstappen, and further insights on how he drove a car tweaked at a difficult setup, and gained laptimes from it.
"I learned his raw speed and I learned, sounds a really weird thing to say, but why is the card that he drives quick to drive? Like what is it about going in that setup direction gets lap time."
Alex Albon then spent a year as a reserve in 2021 while Sergio Perez partnered Verstappen, one of the strongest teammates he has had in recent years. Later on, Albon signed a deal with Williams Racing and has been racing with the team since.
Alex Albon reveals how his experience with Max Verstappen shaped his performance at Williams Racing
Adding further to the topic, Alex Albon revealed that when he came to Williams in the 2022 season, he found the car to be a lot more stable compared to the car at Red Bull Racing. While this made it more comfortable to drive, he realized that they were losing time in some specific corners on the track.
"I remember when I first went to Williams I was like, well this card is way more stable but it's not always quick. You're losing lap time in certain corners because it's too stable let's say," Albon added.
He then worked with the team, using his experience as Max Verstappen's teammate, to make the car a little more aggressive, which helped them to improve performance over time.
"So we kind of pushed it more towards a bit more of an edge of your car and we got more lap time out of it. I feel like I learned a lot in that process."
Williams have found themselves in their most competitive state this season than they have been in the past five years. Alex Albon has currently teamed up with Carlos Sainz this season to put them in fifth place in the Constructors' Championship.
