Williams team principal James Vowles explains why he believes Alexander Albon is underestimated by many – He also defends Logan Sargeant
If Williams Team Principal James Vowles is to be believed, Alexander Albon has what it takes to become Formula 1 World Champion one day. In the past 2023 season, the former Red Bull driver scored 27 of the traditional racing team’s 28 points
This meant that Albon almost single-handedly led Williams to seventh place in the world championship, and in an interview with auto motor und sport, Vowles says of his driver: “For me, Alex has the skills to become world champion one day. I mean that honestly.”
A view that not everyone in the paddock shares. Albon’s critics keep reminding him of his time at Red Bull, where he was almost without a chance against Max Verstappen for a year and a half. But Vowles does not let this argument pass.
“The Alex you see today is different to the Alex when he was at Red Bull […]. He still lacked belief in himself then. He has that now. He’s happy, he’s a leader, he has self-confidence, he works in a structured way and sets the direction,” he reveals.
“That all sounds simple. But the simplest things are often the hardest. You never know how good one driver is compared to another until you put them in the same car at the same time as the other,” explains Vowles.
“If other drivers had to drive a Williams tomorrow, they would probably struggle. Today I know from Alex that he gets the maximum out of the car available to him at all times,” praises the team boss.
“And every time you put him under pressure, he stands up to it. And he copes with a car that is difficult to drive. This experience can be an advantage for him,” believes Vowles, who makes it clear that Albon is a “very good” Formula 1 driver.
How good (or bad) is team-mate Logan Sargeant?
At least internally, Albon also had his teammate Logan Sargeant 2023 clearly under control. He won the qualifying duel 22:0, which is why many observers are asking themselves whether Albon was so strong or his team-mate Sargeant so weak?
Vowles defends the American and explains: “You have to evaluate the Logan of the last few races. He had a lot to learn as a rookie. The conditions [for new Formula 1 drivers] have changed. Even in the recent past.”
“Piastri was allowed to do 11,000 test kilometers in an old Formula 1 car before his debut. The generation before that had 20,000 kilometers. Logan only had 800, which is not easy to digest. But since Suzuka, he hasn’t lacked much on Alex,” emphasizes Vowles.
“He has made progress race by race. Relative to himself and also to Alex. He has reduced the error rate. And he does what we ask him to do. Sometimes you have to give people a chance,” says Vowles. At the end of 2023, Williams confirmed Sargeant for another season.
“I told him that I want to see constant improvement. And that he has to take his chances if he can score points. That’s what he did,” said Vowles, although Sargeant actually only scored a single point in 2023.
At his home race in Austin, he subsequently finished tenth because Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were disqualified there.
