Alex Albon believes the arrival of Carlos Sainz at Williams will assist him to raised show his personal expertise degree by eradicating the burden that got here from being the benchmark himself because the workforce’s skilled driver.
Sainz opted to affix Williams for 2025 after Ferrari signed Lewis Hamilton to interchange him, the Spaniard making the transfer off the again of 4 victories for the Scuderia. Albon has been at Williams since 2022, partnering Nicholas Latifi in his first season and latterly Logan Sargeant and Franco Colapinto, and the 28-year-old believes Sainz would be the reference level he must cement his personal fame.
“I prefer it — it’s an ideal problem,” Albon advised RACER. “I feel Carlos is coming in with lots of pedigree. I feel he’s had a incredible season as nicely towards Charles [Leclerc], who we all know is a particularly sturdy driver.
“For myself, it’s nice to have the ability to have somebody who I can instantly evaluate towards. I really feel prefer it’s all the time been a little bit of a burden to me in some methods as a result of I really feel like nobody actually is aware of the place I stand. I’ve that confidence in myself that I’m fairly good.”
Albon admits his personal expertise of the Pink Bull setup is prone to be usurped by Sainz’s more moderen historical past at Ferrari, and thinks that may assist push Williams because it appears to maneuver ahead in 2025 and ’26.
“I’m glad that Carlos is there … simply what he brings to Williams goes to be actually necessary to us,” he stated. “That have that he has, the data of being in a prime workforce like Ferrari that’s performing nicely week in, week out.
“After I joined Williams from Pink Bull, clearly there was rather a lot that I wanted to offer and wished to offer to enhance the workforce. However I’ve now been within the workforce for 3 years and as a lot as I nonetheless push and put the workforce right into a course that I feel is required, having that contemporary mindset into it, I feel is simply going to be useful.
“For me as nicely, as a teammate, I feel I’m going to be very open-eared — simply wanting to listen to what he has to say in regards to the automobile, but in addition what course he believes we have to go in.”
