20 January 2024 , 07:00
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In Alex Albon, Williams have an extraordinary talent on their hands.
Sadly for them, the nature of Formula 1 means that the less performant teams are never able to hold onto those talents for too long. And that looks set to be the fate of the Williams team this year regarding their British-Thai superstar.
That word is overused, but is fitting for Albon after the season he had in 2023. He really was the star of the show for F1's sleeping giants - single-handedly propelling the team to seventh place in the constructors' championship with his results.
Albon left F1 for a year in 2021 after his Red Bull axe and so there was fear for his future in the sport. But not only did this new opportunity arise, but he had the determination to grab it with both hands.
Within two years, it feels like he has outgrown his team. That feels slightly ridiculous to say given the history of success Williams have in this sport. But stories of glory from 25 years ago are simply not enough to keep the best racers around when more appealing seats become available.
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Albon is a genuinely lovely man, one of the friendliest people in the paddock. That has been used against him in criticism in the past - he was labelled too nice to succeed at a top team, and his struggles at Red Bull went some way to back up that assertion.
But once the helmet goes on an entirely different side to him comes out. It's the gritty and resilient side which saw him, on several occasions last year, spend whole races defending successfully from quicker cars behind him to earn the points that saw his team finish three places higher than they might otherwise have done.
Naturally, those results have captured interest from teams who have some of those quicker cars. Ferrari in particular have been impressed, but there are others who admire Albon's career renaissance. Alpine and Aston Martin have drivers out of contract this year, so should be taking notice. Might there even be scope for a fairytale Red Bull return?
It will hurt Albon to walk away from Williams, because he really is a very nice man. But he turns 28 in March and is at the point in his career when he needs to be racing closer to the front again. The only way his current team might be able to encourage him that he can do that at Grove is if they can finish higher this year - but team principal James Vowles has already admitted it's unrealistic.
"What we want to change is still too far away to allow us to take this step next year," he told Auto Motor und Sport about the prospect of beating Alpine or Aston Martin this year. Sadly for him, without it, he seems destined to lose one of his key assets. The driver market is set to be very active this year and, as one of 15 drivers out of contract in December, Albon looks likely to play a key role in it.