The Thai driver has returned to being a regular F1 driver with Williams after a year as a substitute for Red Bull , having lost his seat to Sergio Pérez for the 2021 season.
Although Grove have had their ups and downs in 2022, opting for a mid-course facelift, Alex Albon says one of the big positives of the year is how it feels.
“I would say that the most positive thing that I have felt is that, despite having been away for a year, I notice that I have confidence in myself,” he explained before a French GP in which Williams hopes to get to know his new car better.
“I feel good in the car. I think that’s what’s always been the most difficult for me: that you drive certain cars and sometimes you feel like he’s driving you. It’s like you’re trying to fight him instead of let the car do its thing”.
“From the beginning with the Williams, even though it has its driving styles, I felt like I could control it. I think I felt confident enough to drive it the way I wanted, and that helps straight away.”
“I felt that going into Q2, on our first weekend together, with a car that wasn’t quite right at the time, was a great way to start and it made me feel, I guess, settled.
Red Bull’s “nervous car” myth for Albon
Albon says the last time he felt this good in a car was at Toro Rosso , in his debut season in 2019 before moving up to Red Bull mid-term.
“I would say that at Toro Rosso I felt comfortable, and then the jump from Toro Rosso to Red Bull I think was another step,” he explained.
“And then from 2019 to 2020 it was another step that was like ‘wow, okay, it’s different from what I’m used to.’ But this year yes, I feel confident.”
Although many have suggested that Albon’s problems at Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen were due to him not being as comfortable with a rear end as twitchy as his team-mate’s, he insists that is not the case.
In fact, he says that throughout his career in lower categories he always liked cars that moved more, and it is a characteristic that, according to him, is useful for the current generation of F1 single-seaters.
“I think people would probably say I liked a more stable car, but relative to anyone else I used to race, I had a lot of fun if it moved and stuff,” he said.
“This year it’s come back more towards that feeling. I like the car quite twitchy, and I’m not afraid to move it. I think this year’s car, it tends to reward someone if you can get it to be that way. If the car leaves you and the tires let you, you can get a little bit more performance in that sense.”
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