By Darian Lee Crowley
After a Red Bull sacking, Alex Albon has turned his career around with a team that looked to be in terminal decline and shown his speed against Carlos Sainz.
Alex Albon, another Helmut Marko/Max Verstappen victim, looked like his career had reached an early peak after his Red Bull sacking. Kvyat, Ricciardo, Perez, and now Lawson never looked like the same drivers after going through the ‘Verstappen’ experience.
Instead, Albon has chosen the Pierre Gasly option and solidly rebuilt his career with a midfield team.
Williams offered Albon a career lifeline after George Russell’s promotion to Mercedes. The team struggled in recent years, failing to score a point in 2020.
Albon has driven well over the last 3 seasons and dominated teammates Latifi and Sargeant.
But to dominate Carlos Sainz is a very different story.
Sainz was the most in-demand driver last year. Every midfield team fought to have him, and whoever would be his teammate would be in for a difficult year.
However, Albon has excelled against Sainz, finishing ahead of him in 6 of the 7 races. In those 7 races he managed 3 top-5 finishes and triple the amount of points he managed all last season.
His constituency has been his biggest strength. Almost always getting the most out of the car, outqualifying Sainz and delivering a strong points finish, week after week. A podium finish may be on the way at this rate.
Sainz, on the other hand, while a very quick driver on his day, is vulnerable to the odd crash, particularly in the wet or in wheel-to-wheel combat. Think Bahrain and Australia.
Albon needs to be wary, though. Sainz is getting to grips with a new team and may come back stronger in the future.
The Williams car has been impressive and Albon’s driving even more so. He is still currently the No. 1 driver, and Sainz will need to fight to gain that status.
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