Alex Albon is cautiously optimistic about the performance of the 2023 Williams after securing a point at the opening round of the Formula 1 season.
The Thai driver held off a late charge from Yuki Tsunoda to claim 10th at the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix which is already more points than they had at this stage last season. Rookie teammate Logan Sargeant also raced well after narrowly missing out on Q2 in qualifying.
Despite the radically-improved result and performance, Albon still feels like the car is similar to that of a year ago but is excited to see where the development of the machine may go throughout 2023.
“In terms of the feeling in the car, it feels quite similar to last year,” Albon told the media. “But we’ve definitely made small steps here and there and they’ve added up. We know there is room for improvement as well which excites me a lot.”
The Vowles factor at Williams
Williams made the move to bring Mercedes strategist James Vowles to the team for the 2023 campaign as their new team principal and it already appears to be working wonders.
Albon waxed lyrical about his new boss to the media adding that his effect on the team may well be seen larger in the long term rather than in the here and now.
“James has definitely brought the knowledge from Mercedes,” Albon continued. “He’s obviously a smart guy, he knows what he’s talking about.
“He has that winning mentality and he knows what it takes to win and that is something we need right now.
“There are a lot of things we do good and some things we need to work on and he’s only been here a short while but listening to what he has to say, he brings a lot to the table; a lot of it is more long term than short term.”
