Alex Albon sat down with Williams for a review of all the memories he created in 2024 and talked through multiple photographs. One such photo featured him with his team principal James Vowles, who actually showed the Thai-British driver his flying skills using a helicopter in Silverstone.
Albon seemed nervous but kept a smiling face as Vowles told him that he had taken flying lessons and could fly a helicopter. The 28-year-old revealed in the YouTube video posted by Williams that the 45-year-old flew from Grove to Silverstone. “James flew me from Grove, where the factory is, to Silverstone and drove it well.”
“I thought it would be a bit more choppy. The landing’s always a little bit sketchy, if you’ve ever been in a helicopter, it can be quite loose,” he added.
Albon did not mind flying again with Vowles despite his alleged ‘loose’ landing. He stated, even before they took off, that he trusted his boss to keep him safe and wouldn’t want to fly a helicopter on a whim.
Vowles also told Albon that he had kept his 60 hours of flying lessons a secret from his partner to give her a surprise and take her on a tour of London city via a helicopter. Albon felt amused by that anecdote, but his reaction also had some sense of nervousness about their upcoming journey.
Vowles gave Albon a smooth helicopter ride
As Vowles took off with Albon in the back seat and a co-pilot beside him, the 28-year-old’s nerves began to settle. It was a novelty for him to see his team principal participate in such a thrilling activity and fly the helicopter, albeit with some assistance.
They gave Albon a tour of the city, and he was amazed by the sight of the enormous houses, even from thousands of feet in the air. The Thai-British driver also recognized some of the karting tracks where he used to race, as they flew near Silverstone in Northamptonshire.
“This is where I got my first karting lessons when I was eight years old,” Albon recalled.
Vowles was also reminiscing about some of the locations around Silverstone he used to visit as a student in 1996-97. Meanwhile, he was carefully following the instructions provided by the crew in another helicopter flying alongside them.
As methodical as Vowles is, he wasn’t about to make any mistakes or be careless while piloting a helicopter.
