How Sainz has helped raise Albon’s image

British Grand Prix

Dates: 4 to 6 July Race start time: 15:00 BST on Sunday

James Vowles, the Williams team’s coach, claims Alex Albon “sees it as a compliment” because he thinks his game has improved this year.

Albon is disagreeing, though. “Maybe it’s been a stronger year”, he says. “But for the most part, I still believe I plan my weekends in a similar manner.

It’s undoubtedly not just James, they say. It’s up and down the grid in the paddock. It is obvious that I now have a benchmark that many paddocks can use.

More to the identity of his team-mate than the British-Thai driver, Albon’s image is revolving.

Carlos Sainz joined Williams this season from Ferrari. Everyone is aware of Sainz’s talent; he has collaborated closely with Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, and Max Verstappen.

Albon has a significant advantage over the Spaniard, with the caveat that Sainz is still adapting to his new surroundings, both car and team.

He leads him by 42-13 in the championship, in which Albon is the leading driver not from a top-four team. And he has a qualifying advantage of 9-4, or 0.176 seconds on average.

It “highlights the job that I believe I can do,” says Albon.

At the same time, the 29-year-old says:” I would say that my motivation doesn’t come from that.

“I’m now in a quick car, and I’m hoping to win every race right now.” There is therefore a completely different mental shift.

” I remember the previous few years, there were maybe six races on the calendar where it was almost like, ‘ OK, here we go, this is our chance. ‘

When he joined Williams in 2022 – as a replacement for George Russell when his friend moved to Mercedes – it was something of a lifeline.

His had taken a difficult route to F1. Verstappen, Russell, and Leclerc were the children’s karting rivals of the past, and for a while F1 seemed to be a distant second.

He finally made it in 2019, offered a seat by Red Bull in their second team. After a string of impressive performances for Toro Rosso, he was promoted to the main team alongside Verstappen in just one season.

His second-half 2019 success led to the completion of the full season in 2020, but like Pierre Gasly and everyone else since, he struggled to reconcile with the Dutchman and was let go at the end of the year.

After a year on the sidelines as Red Bull’s reserve, he won the Williams seat, partly on Russell’s recommendation, but until this year he had been teamed only with second-rate drivers. Sainz has grabbed it with both hands as this is his first chance to demonstrate his abilities.

However, Albon’s interactions with Sainz raise a contentious issue. How does one explain how he can struggle against Verstappen at Red Bull, but now be ahead of Sainz?

There is no such thing as suiting a car or not suiting a car, Albon asserts. “What it means is that everyone in F1 is easy to fall into the trap of: “All the drivers are at the same level all the time.”

Don’t get me wrong, I believe that Max would still be very quick if you just changed the script and put him in a different car, which is the same reason you see so many drivers struggle up against him. But I don’t think you’re going to see the same gaps that you see that he’s putting on his team-mates now.

“And for the same reason, some drivers find it clicks, and others find it doesn’t.”

Even though I was significantly underpowered on downforce for my first time in a Williams, it still feels good.

“And don’t forget that my six-month stint in Toro Rosso at the time was strong as well. It simply swings.

MotoGP is a fantastic example of how to look at it like golf.

“These drivers, these players, they are always talking about: ‘ The bike doesn’t suit me ‘ or ‘ these golf clubs don’t suit me’. And they’re switching clubs, changing putters, changing bikes, and changing how the feel of the bike feels. They constantly try to improve their bike confidence.

When we talk about golf, Lily Muni He, a Chinese golfer, appears to be his partner.

Albon claims that having a girlfriend who is a professional sportsperson has “a significant influence on his racing career” in many ways.

” We use the same psychologist, “Albon says”. Our lines of business are very similar in our conversation. In terms of our differences and strengths, we have a lot in common.

“We try to help each other in every way we can. It is also good for you. We work on it together, so it’s really helpful to discuss what areas you’re trying to improve.

” We do group calls with our psychologist, and it’s positive.

“I don’t believe there is a sport out there that is more mental than golf, but obviously motorsport is a very mental sport,” he said.

Because they spend too much time thinking, I believe golf psychologists are actually some of the best in the world when it comes to sports performance.

“And it’s an inward game, just like I’m trying to create within my motorsport world. And yet, their processes are so crucial to stay current with.

Albon is known for its “Process.” It’s why he’s not obsessed about his performances in comparison with Sainz.

He claims that he is “very not result-driven.” It’s always process, process, process for me. And every year I validate myself. I ask myself, “Am I preparing and executing my best self?” Do I have my best interests at heart?

” So that’s why when you ask me, ‘ have I changed much? Is this an exceptional year? Have you made a game-change? I track myself and everything’s about myself. That in some ways is selfish, but it serves as my benchmark. In many ways, I use benchmarks.

“I definitely feel like I’ve been able to execute strong races. I also consider it mentally. This year, I’ve been really looking at my own mental performance. Just, you know, in terms of dealing with (stressful) situations.

The difference is that Williams and his team-mate have been able to show it to the world this year as well because of their teamwork.

On the basis of both performance and results, Williams are comfortably a fifth in the constructors’ championship despite a shaky final couple of races. The impact of Vowles has been substantial since he took over two and a half years ago, and they seem to be on track with their ambition to get back to the top.

Albon, however, how far along that path does he believe they are.

He claims that “we are a very different team at the moment from a top team.” We’re still on a journey to get there, and we talk very openly about the journey and our weaknesses as a team.

“I don’t believe we are reaching our full potential, especially in terms of car performance,” he said. That includes everything that happens in the background, including the engineering and performance.

” I don’t think next year we’re going to be in a position to fight for wins, and I think it will be very rare to get a chance at podiums, but that’s my mindset, that’s our mindset.