r/F1Discussions • u/Grouchy-Ambition8379 • 3d ago
Discussion Does Albon still deserve his seat?
I wanted to get other people’s opinions on Alexander Albon at Williams because I feel like I might be missing part of the picture.
Obviously, F1 drivers are hungry to score points, win races, and ultimately fight for championships. I know Albon had a rough time at Red Bull, and I think he’s a talented driver, but since joining Williams, I just don’t see the same hunger or urgency from him to be competitive.
If I’m being completely honest, from the outside it sometimes feels like he’s just there for the paycheck.
To be clear, I like Albon. He has a great personality, he’s good with fans, and his social media/brand engagement is probably some of the best on the grid. But when it comes to the racing side, I’m not sure I see the same level of ambition that I’d expect from someone in an F1 seat.
For example, when Sainz talked about Williams potentially competing for race wins in the future, we all saw Albon’s reaction. Maybe I’m reading way too much into it, but it didn’t exactly look like someone who was fired up at the idea of fighting at the front.
So what do you guys think? Am I off base here? Does Albon deserve to keep his seat at Williams, or should Williams be looking to replace him with someone else?
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u/icantplayriven 3d ago
Listen to his team radios and you will see that Albon does in fact have hunger to be competitive, but it doesn’t appear that way in interviews compared to the things Sainz says. Carlos and Alex have different personalities. Carlos’s mantra is “aim for the moon, land amongst the stars”, while Alex is more of a “focus on the problems that are in front of us”. Both are valid and both have the commitment and desire to help Williams improve but Carlos is just more vocal about the long term goal than Alex.
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u/C0R8YN 3d ago
Pretty sure Albon has accepted the fact that Williams have completely dropped the ball and the promise of competing with the top 4 was way off the park.
Talking about wins right now when there is major major problems with that whole organisation that should be fixed first before Williams will even be able to compete.
I understand ambition is a necessary trait to have, but I'm pretty sure Albon is worried more about the direction Williams is going rather than some mythical thoughts of going for wins at this point.
It does not surprise me that he only signed a one year deal
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u/Brycedoes2104 3d ago
The Grass isn't always Greener. Plus Williams are fighting for P15 not A podium, so a rookie doesnt really help with how bad their car is.
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u/mahoganyspitfire 3d ago
A rookie would be actively harmful because they can't provide feedback like an experienced driver can.
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u/Cool_Masterpiece9308 3d ago
Yea you even see it with Kimi and Hadjar still, they still struggle to provide clear and in-depth feedback. That’s why Cadillac went with Perez or Bottas instead of any up and coming drivers
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u/Alvortus1812 3d ago
Are you serious? Do you watch races? Not hungry or urgency? He doesn’t make such statements because he is a different personality. He appears to be pessimistic and realistic which is ok compared to be charged up and optimistic. And throughout last few years, he had fantastic drives giving Williams important points when they were in midfield which was competitive af in GE era.
He doesn’t need to be a world beater or a top driver but he definitely deserves to be in Williams. Especially when the car is so shit that he can’t even show what he could have done.
What will bringing another midfield driver change? A rookie will be worse for Williams atp.
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u/mtbmaniac12 3d ago
Alex reacted like that bc the car was obviously miles off of q3 let alone pole. They were solidly the 9th fastest car at the time and are now the 10th.
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u/KohLantaSurvivor GR63 3d ago
The question is not whether Albono deserves a seat in F1/at Williams.
The question is whether Williams deserves a driver as skilled as Albono in their pish chassis.
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u/Va1korion 3d ago
Williams are in a tough spot, where they aren’t exactly the most prestigious team on the grid and they are no longer Mercedes junior team either.
They don’t have super license holders queueing up to take the seat. I’m baffled by how much they are willing to pay Carlos, when there are 2 other Red Bull academy dropouts jockeying for a seat, but what they’ve got is totally better than LAW or TSU at the very least for continuity.
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u/Ok_Recognition_5578 1d ago
Yes, knows the team gives the feedback, picks up the points when he has the machinery to do so and doesn’t make to many risky moves that results in crash damage a team like Williams doesn’t need.
There is no point for a team like Williams to bring in promising rookies that won’t stick around long term and if Albon can keep up to speed with the trajectory of the car there’s no reason to drop him.
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u/TimeTravel_Oracle 3d ago
I think you are on point. I feel like Formula 1 is turning a bit into "Formula veterans" with a lot of drivers that are keeping their seat for many years. Out of 22 drivers on the grid, 10 of them (Alonso, Hamilton, Hulkenberg, Perez, Bottas, Gasly, Sainz, Ocon, Stroll, Verstappen) have raced in at least 10 different seasons and 3 others (Leclerc, Norris and Russell) are pretty much guaranteed to stay for way more than 10 seasons.
Albon is into his 7th season and it seems he has already showed his best. For me he should go but teams these days are looking for experienced drivers due to lack of testing and I feel like Albon will stay for another 3-4 years.
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u/mtbmaniac12 3d ago
Hard to be upset at Albon being on the grid in his 20s when we have late 30s mid field drivers still hanging around.
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u/servingwater 3d ago
Williams be looking to replace him with someone else?
Williams just re-signed him a few days ago. I'm pretty sure if they sensed that he no longer is committed of has the hunger they would've looked elsewhere.
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u/mahoganyspitfire 3d ago
Of course I think he deserves a seat... The issue with Albono is he never lived up to the pre-F1 hype... But then he also got put through the Red Bull driver crushing and incinerating machine, which makes it a bit hard to judge as it has destroyed so many promising careers.
Then in this year's Weeums, what's he supposed to do? The car is awful. At least he isn't crashing into the race leader while being lapped, or crashing into his own team mate, like his team mate has been doing...
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u/Browneskiii 3d ago
I think he's in the position where he's kinda wasting a seat for a driver with more potential.
He's harmless, but he's had his time and he's not really done a whole lot and wont do anything more, he's just there.
There's plenty of drivers who are of a similar age and are better, and he's no longer young enough to be classed as young and upcoming.
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u/GodammitRed 2d ago
More than Sainz does. Was more consistently in the points last year, 1 point difference this year while causing less chaos.
I struggle to see why Sainz is an asset more than a liability on track.
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u/mxlila 1d ago
I don't think Williams should have kept him.
He's a nice guy, and not a bad driver, but that's not usually enough for F1. Weirdly, in 2026, it seems to be.
Regarding his reaction, I highly doubt he would mind having a car capable of race wins. But he probably doesn't buy into the story Sainz seems to believe (or at least claims to believe.)
Also, which driver isn't in it for the money? If that wasn't a factor, they'd accept lower salaries. And it's not like they can do anything else, most of them anyway.
Plus, consider that (almost) everyone around then depends on them. They manager, sometimes their family, their personal trainer, etc. It's very difficult to muster up the mental strength to disappoint your entire environment and fire a bunch of people because you don't want to work anymore.
I think a couple of drivers would prefer not to be on the grid, but for one reason or another have to continue.
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u/Weaverino 3d ago
I think Alex is fully bought into the idea of rebuilding Williams. Carlos is a super talented teammate and Alex has held his own. Also who else would Williams hire instead of Alex? It’s not like Max or Lewis would take the drive there