F1 break gave Albon “global view” of what it takes to be top driver

He says the opportunity to take a step back while also assisting Max Verstappen’s successful title campaign has given him a “global view” of what it takes to succeed and puts him in a stronger position as he returns to the grid with Williams.

After being dropped by Red Bull Racing, Albon spent last season racing in the DTM while also working on RBR’s 2021 and 2022 F1 cars in the Milton Keynes simulator.

On Tuesday he had his first taste of the new Williams FW44 in a shakedown run at a wet Silverstone.

“I feel like having that year out, I have had a bit more of a global view of what it takes to be to be a top tier driver, in the sense that I had the full picture of it,” he said.

“Sometimes when you're in the race weekend, when you're flat out, kind of in that zone, you only see the racetrack, and that's kind of your year.

“Last year, it was a very different role for me, it was a lot about developing the car, about seeing how the team operates, in fulfilling my development role as best as I could.

“And I feel like there's a lot of experience there, learning the ways in which an F1 team operates.

“I definitely can use that and bring that to Williams. And at the same time there's things which I've spent during last year reflecting and thinking, how can I do a better job? And that's not just one thing. That's a lot of little things, which obviously, I'm working on for this year. I still need to drive the car to work on them."

Alex Albon, Williams FW44

Photo by: Williams

Albon worked on the 2022 RB18 project even after he signed for Williams. However, while he experienced the new car in the simulator he says he had no knowledge of what it might actually look like that could have been of benefit to his new team.

“I know, more or less what the car feels like,” he said when asked by Motorsport.com. “But it's hard always to compare, because the simulators themselves are different, the way that they operate, the way that they feel in terms of motion is so different.

“You can obviously get a feeling for things. But to really act on them, it takes a bit of time, it takes a bit of experience.

"Of course, I'm going to use everything that I know. At the same time, and I'm not an aerodynamicist, I don't know what the rear wing looks like on the RB18 or anything like that. I just know the feeling of it.

“The simulator is quite simple. You've got two wheels on the front of it, and you're inside of a monocoque. So yeah, it is hard in that sense.

“But I think what I will bring to Williams is just the way that they work and the way that they go about their business, more than anything else.

“And of course, on top of that cars have characteristics they carry even if the rules change as much as they do from last year to this year.

“They always tend to keep their slight subtleties within the cars, it's quite a normal thing to happen. And I think I have a good feeling of why the Red Bull car was fast, and I know how they exploited their lap time out of the car.

“And I know at the same time why the Williams was quick in some places, and I can see how these things sort themselves out.

“So it's just kind of that balance of trying to use that knowledge that I do have to try and make us more competitive."