Alex Albon has been in F1 since 2019 but hasn’t really been challenged by a teammate apart from his stint alongside Max Verstappen. However, the Thai driver was still in his early years while in the Red Bull seat and is believed to have developed a lot since then. Yet, with no real measure of his talent alongside a capable driver in the last few years, 2025 could be a make or break for the Williams driver.
Nicholas Latifi and Logan Sargeant failed to pose any sort of challenge to Albon. The Thai driver has smashed all the teammate comparison stats in his favor. On top of that, there were some amazing performances from Albon‘s side like the 2023 Canadian GP P7 finish. However, Williams’ prodigy Franco Colapinto is now challenging him.
Tom McCluskey on his YouTube channel Tommo said, “Franco is already putting the heat on Alex that Latifi and Sargeant weren’t able to. Albon needs to put water on that and chill the situation out.” He added, “Alex has been around for a while and he should be, between now and the end of the year, at least a couple of tenths faster consistently.”
James Vowles believes Williams will have the best driver lineup on the 2025 #F1 grid
Carlos Sainz is leaving Ferrari to join the team alongside Alex Albon next season, do you agree with Vowles? pic.twitter.com/I2CJf0TKNt
— Crash.net – Formula 1 (@CRASH_NET_F1) October 3, 2024
Colapinto has been quite close to Albon’s pace in the last couple of races. The qualifying was extremely close with Albon only 0.007 seconds faster in Singapore and the Argentine matching the race pace as well. However, an even bigger challenge awaits Albon in 2025 in the form of Carlos Sainz.
The Spaniard has proven himself alongside the likes of Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc in recent years. Tommo F1 believes that Sainz will slightly nudge Albon in the championship next season. Regardless of the result, it will reveal Albon’s comparative performance and how far the Thai driver has come since the Red Bull days.
Colapinto to Williams in 2026 a possibility if Albon fails to perform
Albon’s last comparative performance against a teammate was against Verstappen as the Dutchman comfortably outperformed him. However, Albon suggested that Red Bull didn’t treat him well. He even detailed how the sensitivity of how Verstappen set up a car made it impossible for Albon to drive with the same setup.
Albon will face the tall challenge of teaming up with Sainz for the 2025 season. If the Thai driver fails to match the level of the Spaniard’s performance in his prime, then the door for Colapinto will open up. The Argentine will be the reserve driver for Williams during the 2025 season.
In case, Colapinto isn’t picked up by a competitor, he can be a competitive replacement for Albon in 2026. Given Williams’ goals for the 2026 season and how they have shifted complete focus to the new regulations, James Vowles would want the strongest possible driver pairing.
