29 January 2024 , 17:27
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Several Formula 1 teams have held talks with Alex Albon as the British-Thai racer mulls his options for the future.
Albon is in the final year of his current Williams contract having raced for the team for the last two seasons. And, in that time, he has not only re-established his place on the grid, but caught the eye with his performances and results.
He almost single-handedly fired the team to seventh place in the constructors' championship last year, scoring all but one of the team's 28 points. And, with his deal ending in December, other teams with quicker cars have taken notice.
It was recently reported that two teams made approaches for Albon ahead of the 2023 season but were rebuffed. Writing for the official F1 website, Lawrence Barretto has named those two squads as Alpine and Haas.
And they are far from the only ones keen. understands the 27-year-old is near the top of the list of potential signings for Ferrari should they need to make a change, while the report goes on to say there are many more interested parties besides.
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"Running [Carlos] Sainz close for the accolade of biggest key to the driver market is Alex Albon," writes Barretto. "Williams naturally want to keep the Thai racer, who single-handedly guided the team to seventh in the constructors' last year.
"Albon and his team are believed to have been involved in talks with at least half of the grid about a move in the future, with two teams - Alpine and Haas - having been keen on his services for 2023. Ferrari are understood to be one of the interested parties."
The report goes on to suggest Albon could even be in line for a sensational Red Bull return, adding: "My sources say Red Bull engineers rate him highly." The Williams racer admitted himself last year that he has remained in regular contact with his old team principal Christian Horner.
"Christian is always messaging me, telling me, 'Good job," he said. "It is always nice to have that relationship with an old team principal. It was a great weekend for us and it was obviously nice for Christian to say that."
And in November Horner said of his former driver: "He's brilliant, he's fantastic and he did a fantastic job for us when he stepped down to be test driver. He never complained, he never moaned, he put in the hours and I was really happy I was able to find him a seat in Williams. He's found his form, he's got the experience now, he's toughened for sure and he's hot property again."