Alexander Albon, Williams, Hungaroring, 2022

Albon to stay at Williams on new, “multi-year” deal

2023 F1 season

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Williams have extended their contract with Alexander Albon who will remain at the team in 2023 as part of a new, multi-year deal.

Albon returned to F1 with Williams this year having spent the previous season as a reserve driver for Red Bull. He has finished in the top 10 twice, scoring all of the team’s points.

He said it is “really exciting to be staying with Williams Racing for 2023”.

“The team is pushing hard to progress, and I am really motivated to continue this journey and further develop our learnings together,” Albon added.

Williams CEO and team principal Jost Capito said he was pleased to have extended Albon’s contract less than a year since his move to the team was agreed.

“Alex is a tremendous driver and valued member of Williams Racing, so we’re thrilled to be able to confirm we will be working with him on a long-term basis,” said Capito.

“Alex brings a great blend of skill and insightful learnings that will help bring the team greater success in the future.

“He’s a fierce competitor, has proved a popular and loyal team member and we are delighted that he will provide a stable base for us to continue to develop in this new F1 car era.”

Williams is yet to confirm the identity of Albon’s team mate for next year. Nicholas Latifi is hoping to secure a fourth season at the team, which he joined under its previous ownership.

However other drivers including Nyck de Vries and Oscar Piastri – who yesterday rejected Alpine’s claim he will drive for them in 2023 – have also been tipped to join Williams.

View the current list of 2023 F1 drivers and teams

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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40 comments on “Albon to stay at Williams on new, “multi-year” deal”

  1. Are we sure on this one?

  2. Good to see them choosing some stability. And really good to have the driver agree and be happy with the deal for a change too (great comment from Albon on twitter, btw. Piastri then congratulated him on it)!

    1. That is quite funny by Albon, the Twitter comment. Meanwhile the plot thickens on Piastri. All will become clear at some point.

    2. @bascb I like how he deliberately imitated Piastri, but oppositely.

  3. Well deserved, has been doing a good job for a poor performing team, kept their spirits up and occasionally pulls out some good qualifying results and even a few points to show for it.

    Hopefully Williams can provide him a more competitive package next year.

  4. I’m happy for Alex. He has potential and Williams is a good fit. One question I do have, with this new “multi year” deal in place, is he still contracted to Red Bull?

    1. Derek Edwards
      3rd August 2022, 16:29

      I think his move to Williams had already severed those links.

    2. @proteus-maximus No, & he’s been a full Williams driver contractually since joining them.

      1. Not so. He’s still contracted to Red Bull (at least for this year).

        1. Okay, I just checked. He was released by Red Bull. I didn’t know that.

        2. @proteus-maximus Wrong, this is an open fact & has been such since last September.

          1. @proteus-maximus
            “He is a full Williams driver, with no contract with Red Bull,” – Capito last September.
            Reference source:
            https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/capito-albon-arrival-red-bull-williams-connection/6674192/

          2. There was no way he could’ve joined Williams while still connected/contracted to Red Bull

          3. I think he still wears a Red Bull helmet doesn’t he?

          4. Red Bull Thailand still have links with him.

      2. Alex is most likely still deeply connected to the red bull corporate brand due to the complex close history of Thailand and the energy drinks company and his Williams seat is paid for buy the Thailand gov but NOT the Milton Keynes based F1 team.

        1. He is part of Red Bull but he is not part of Red Bull

  5. De Vries should get the other seat.

  6. His continuation was effectively certain for a little while already, so a formal announcement was only a matter of time.

  7. I think Albon definately should be out of F1 before RIC, ALO etc. At least these guys proved something at a certain moment in their carreer, therefore there’s still hope for repeat. ALB didn’t prove anything really worthy so far, I really fail to see where this warm support to continue comes from. Overall, I think Albon is in the same category with Giovinazzi, Vandoorne, Wehrlein, Hartley… and none of them spent more than 3 years in F1.

    1. He is at least at the same level as Tsunoda, Gasly, Sainz jnr, Magnussen, Perez, Bottas, Vettel, Ricciardo, Ocon and probably some names I have forgotten.

    2. I suppose it depends in part on what Dorilton is playing at. If they are, as has sometimes been suggested, basically a stop-over for a third party trying to get into F1 with the new engine regulations, then they mostly just need a solid driver for the next two years. Albon, while he’s probably never getting hired by a top team again, is no worse than half the grid that similarly spends about 6 years in the midfield before moving on to some other series.

    3. Overall, I think Albon is in the same category with Giovinazzi, Vandoorne, Wehrlein, Hartley… and none of them spent more than 3 years in F1.

      I guess it’s all just personal opinion, but in mine you have grouped a pretty wide ranging standard of drivers there. For me that list includes some that have merely not been in the right place at the right time.

      1. Yes, wehrlein has been unlucky and vandoorne being paired with alonso at a bad car likely had more potential than we saw, giovinazzi and hartley imo had enough time to prove they were not worthy of a seat in f1 unless they had money with them.

        1. Giovinazzi is a weird case. Because he outqualified Kimi as teammate over 3 years

  8. This means Dorilton is selling the team.

  9. Not a huge surprise for the British born and raised ‘Thai’ driver who cant speak Thai or holds a Thailand passport signed a million year contract extension to drive at the back of the grid and whine when he crashes into Lewis again.. I never respected F1 drivers who got to where they are not because of raw skill and talent but due to mountains of cash or nepotism basically living life on easy mode.

    My main problem with Alex is that he a is a below average pay driver and his existence in F1 is due to Thailand buying a semi competent racer to represent themnation brandingon a global stage .

    He changed nationality from the country where he was born, raised, private school educated to his Mothers birth nation only get the funds from the Thai government to prolong his career as his dad was burning cash funding his dead end racing career in Formula Renault to became a red bull academy driver(I don’t want to go into the overly convoluted Thai origins of redbull energy drink company).
    Without the nation change he would would never reach F1 because he doesn’t have the skill to get to the top tier of motorsport on talent alone. I wouldn’t be surprised if his was ordered to dye his hair red to match the flags colours..

    Anyone have any idea how much the Thailand Government paid Williams for this nation branding exercise? Hugo Chavez used state owned Venezuelan petrochemical PDVSA funds to pay 35 million a year for pastor to play destruction derby(no surprise when Chavez died Pastor quickly disappeared from F1..) so I guess taking into account inflation Thailand is paying Williams 40 million+ a year for Alex’s seat?

    I have no ill will to Alex but he’s no different to zhou, latifi or stroll not deserving a seat on talent but the huge amount of cash(in strolls case daddy buys the team!) they bring to pay for a ride, I want to see more drivers world class raw talents like Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri on the grid and not average rich journeymen LARPing as a Formula one pilot..

    1. Albon was always fast all his career, fact that was pointed out multiple times by Russell and Leclerc for instance. He was third in arguably the most competitive field of F2 history. I would never put him in the pay driver list. I can say he’s average, fast in his days, but that’s a statement that can be said to half of F1 grid. In my opinion he’s as much as a pay driver as Mick is, to be honest I would rate him even higher.

      People are sometimes just blind to how feeder series works, Piastri is a big talent? For sure, but he had the best support and teams all his career, it’s a chance that few drivers had. It’s easy to say a driver is bad when he didn’t win anything in feeder series, but sometimes finishing 2nd or 3rd is a bigger achievement.

    2. “I have no ill will to Alex”

      I can see that.

    3. Albon has never ‘changed his nationality’. He has had Thai and British nationalities since birth and he has both British and Thai passports.
      And its not unusual for a driver to race under a country that they were not born. Max Vestappen was born in Belgium. Mick Schumacher was born in Switzerland.

      1. Indeed @mrfill and Nico Rosberg, raised in Monaco has a Finnish father, German mother and passports of both, raced as a German for the bigger (sponsor) market

    4. @ccpbioweapon I am genuinely trying to figure out if this is a serious post. I can understand not rating Albon that highly (though I do think he is a decent racer) but yours seems to come across as though he has personally insulted you. I do not believe there is anything to substantiate statements such as ‘below average pay driver’. Of course one can argue that point with selected examples, but the big picture, his overall career, and his placement and timing in F1 doesn’t really gel with your comments.

    5. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      4th August 2022, 13:01

      @ccpbioweapon I actually didn’t know that Albon was sponsored. I do agree that it makes sense that there is a tie to the Thai part of Red Bull.

      It’s a shame that national interests and financial support can affect the sport to the degree they do.

      Stroll bought a team for his son and I’m curious to see how Alonso will fare there. How much is Latifi paying for his seat?

  10. I would like to see Drugovich getting a chance. His highs in F2 was very impressive. Sargeant deserves the seat, but he can do another year in F2. As much as I think DeVries is good, I don’t think there’s any good reason to pick him over the other 2 names, he’s older and in the best scenario as good as them.

  11. Now to get rid of Latifi and bring in someone with potential to compete the lineup.

    1. Nah I legitly unironically want Latifi to stay. The memes alone would be worth it.

      1. We’ve had three years of memes. We need an actual driver now. I will be so thankful if Williams can finally pry Latifi out of that seat.

  12. Latifi’s seat is in total danger. And Logan Sargeant’s chances are average. If he manages to finish 2nd in the FIA Formula 2, he could get that seat. We do not know where will Latifi land in 2023 if he loses his seat.

    1. 5th place in F2 at the end of the season is enough for Sargeant to get to F1.

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