Nationality: British/Thai
Birthday: 23 March 1996
Current team: Williams
Previous teams: Toro Rosso, Red Bull
Number: 23
Strengths: Overtaking, tyre wear, strategic decisions, race pace
Weaknesses: Inconsistent, crash-prone at times, track-dependent
Strongest tracks: Britain, Bahrain, Italy, Belgium
Weakest tracks: Spain, Brazil
Statistics
Grand Prix wins: 0
Pole Positions: 0
Fastest laps: 0
Podiums: 2
World Championships: 0
F1 teammate record H2H
Total Q record: 64-37
Total R record: 69-38
| Teammate | Q record | R record |
| Sainz (2025) | 3-4 | 6-1 |
| Colapinto (2024) | 7-2 | 4-4 |
| Sargeant (2023-24) | 31-0 | 29-5 |
| Latifi (2022) | 17-1 | 16-4 |
| Verstappen (2019-20) | 0-25 | 9-17 |
| Kvyat (2019) | 6-5 | 5-7 |
Pre-F1 championship results
3rd in Formula 2 (2018)
10th in Formula 2 (2017)
2nd in GP3 (2016)
7th in European F3 (2015)
3rd in Eurocup Formula Renault (2014)
Career analysis
Alex Albon’s career has been up and down. As a young talent, he didn’t initially seem F1-worthy, but that changed as he fought Charles Leclerc impressively in the 2016 GP3 season and finished second in the standings. He followed that up two years later by finishing third in Formula 2, only behind star drivers George Russell and Lando Norris.
When given the chance at Toro Rosso in F1, he was instantly as fast as the more experienced Daniil Kvyat. Because of this, he was promoted, perhaps prematurely, to Red Bull in the middle of his rookie season. Facing Max Verstappen was an extremely difficult challenge. Albon did his best for a year and a half before ultimately being dropped, as he only scored 2 podiums at Red Bull.
This could have been the end of Albon’s F1 career. Red Bull did not put him back into their junior team but instead sent him to DTM, where Albon performed fairly average. But Williams did bring him back in 2022, and since then, Albon has been incredible. The Thai driver has faced some easy – often inexperienced – teammates, but he has beaten them all convincingly. Only Franco Colapinto appeared somewhat equal in level.
Albon will face his first major challenge since Verstappen in the 2025 season as Carlos Sainz joins Williams. Sainz is the early favorite in their matchup against each other, but Albon could surprise. If he ever has any ambitions of driving for a top team, he must at least match Sainz’s performance.
They are very different drivers, though. While Sainz is consistent, Albon runs hot and cold. He has excellent raw pace and performs well in qualifying. In races, he’s even better. The Thai is an expert in managing the tyres, making good decisions in terms of strategy, and he knows how to overtake well. Sometimes, he has dragged the Williams to positions the car didn’t merit.
But Albon is also inconsistent, and there are some races where he seems to disappear. Perhaps he will be more motivated if the car is stronger and when he has a highly rated teammate to compete with. Albon is very track-dependent as well. He performs best at high-speed traditional circuits, is mediocre at temporary tracks and street circuits, and weak at low-speed circuits and sectors with slow corners. He has to improve on this, and perhaps he will, now that he finally gets a proper chance to show his worth.