Now in his third year with Williams, Alex Albon has convincingly outperformed his teammates at the Grove-based outfit for the past two seasons. In 2022, he defeated Nicholas Latifi, and the following year, he came out on top against Logan Sargeant. However, the American driver lost his seat midway through 2024 and was replaced by Franco Colapinto, who may present a tougher challenge for Albon.
F1 expert Ted Kravitz believes that Albon will now be pushed harder than Sargeant or Latifi ever did. On the most recent episode of the Sky Sports F1 podcast, he said,
“Alex Albon has got something to think about because look at how good Colapinto is. This is the first proper test that Alex Albon’s had as a teammate at Williams“.
In just four races with Williams, the Argentine driver has already scored five points — just three fewer than what Albon has managed throughout the campaign. This level of performance could be of concern for Albon, who for long has been the leader at Williams.
Franco ColaPOINTo
Leaving Austin with a point in the bag for the team. pic.twitter.com/b8ZebQR6Ka
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) October 20, 2024
Colapinto was close to Albon in his first three races, and at the latest one in Austin, comprehensively outperformed him. The 21-year-old finished P10, six places ahead of his teammate.
Unfortunately, all of Albon’s strong results might be overshadowed, as Colapinto currently doesn’t have an F1 seat for the 2025 season. Williams has already signed Carlos Sainz as Albon’s teammate and intends to stick with that decision.
Colapinto’s cameo makes 2025 a crucial year for Albon to deliver
Although Albon has had a resurgence at Williams after his difficult spell at Toro Rosso (now RB) and then Red Bull, he could once again see himself facing criticism if he fails to match Sainz, who will arrive at Williams in 2025.
The Spaniard has established himself as one of the top drivers in the sport, having defeated the likes of Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris when he was teammates with them at Ferrari and McLaren respectively.
Therefore, if Sainz beats Albon convincingly, then Williams may consider offering Colapinto the second seat as they will not want to lose the highly impressive 21-year-old Argentine to a rival. After all, Colapinto has already drawn links with Sauber despite only having competed in four F1 race weekends.
