After the last race in 2019, F1 will return to China this week. Alex Albon, however, has arrived early and is enjoying the company of his girlfriend Lily Muni He in her hometown of Chengdu. The couple posted some awe-inspiring photos on their socials giving an insight into their trip. Although, one fan made a rather far-fetched connection in reaction to the post.
Reddit user u/MarcoGWR posted screenshots of the stories posted by Albon and Lily on their Instagram accounts. In the title they wrote, “Albon arrived at Chengdu China to meet his fiancé Lily He’s parents (So Chinese Grand Prix could also be seen as his home race? In China, son-in-law is seen as Half Son).”
The user claims the pair is engaged. That claim, however, may not be true as neither Albon nor Lily has made any such claim in public. Lily, an LPGA golfer, is a paddock regular, cheering for her boyfriend. The Williams driver, despite a busy F1 calendar, makes time to do the same for his girlfriend whenever he can. Despite their close bond, the engagement claim is sadly not true yet.
Albon, however, would love to have some Chinese fans backing him in the upcoming Grand Prix. If his ties with Lily help him get that support, neither he nor his team Williams will mind that. After all, they are both looking to bounce back from the ongoing slump.
Alex Albon and Williams start 2024 on a low
Despite the failure to score any points, Williams started the season on a promising note. The FW46 [Williams’ 2024 car], similar to its predecessor in the second half of 2023, had superior straight-line speed. That led to Alex Albon missing out on scoring points in Jeddah by a whisker. However, the promising start soon turned into a nightmare.
As the season progressed to the Australian GP, the Thai driver crashed heavily in FP1. The shunt into the barriers rendered his chassis beyond repair. To make matters worse, the team wasn’t carrying a spare chassis.
In a bid to score points, Williams benched Logan Sargeant and Albon drove the #2 driver’s car to complete his race weekend. Although, this effort was futile, as the Thai driver failed to score points in Melbourne.
The Japanese GP turned out to be a bigger disappointment as both drivers crashed on different occasions. While Sargeant had his accident during practice, Albon had his during the race start, resulting in a DNF.
The spate of crashes has hurt Williams’ development plans, as points remain elusive. As the Chinese GP approaches, both drivers and the management will hope to end the drought. Most importantly, they’d want to have a clean race weekend devoid of any accidents.
Meanwhile, rivals are making the best of each opportunity and accumulating points wherever possible. Visa Cash App RB is currently sitting at P6 in the standings with seven points. Haas is right behind them with four points. Along with Williams, Sauber and Alpine are the only other teams with no points to their names and sitting at the bottom of the standings.
