2024 Formula 1 driver rankings #13: Alexander Albon · RaceFans

Alexander Albon’s team mates commanded more attention than he did during 2024. Logan Sargeant was shown the door after (at least) one too many crashes, then Franco Colapinto turned heads on his debut.

The upshot of this was Albon’s performance did not always receive the scrutiny they might have done. Although he claimed the lion’s share of Williams points, an achievement which befitted his experience, he also made rather too many mistakes.

He began the year knocking on the door of the points, taking 11th in Jeddah and Melbourne. The latter, of course, came in Sargeant’s car, after Albon smashed his up in practice and Williams team principal James Vowles made the tough call to swap the sole remaining chassis between his drivers.

Vowles’ faith in Albon was ultimately vindicated, though it wasn’t the last crash he suffered. He ended the Japanese Grand Prix in the barriers on lap one after tangling with Daniel Ricciardo

However Albon was consistently the driver who brought Williams closest to the points. He got within five seconds in China, and drove well in tricky conditions in Montreal where he performed an excellent double-pass on Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon, only to be taken out by (future team mate) Carlos Sainz Jnr.

Finally he picked up the team’s first points of the season with ninth in Monaco. He repeated the result after a battling drive at home in Silverstone and again in Monza. Zandvoort could have been even better – he qualified eighth before falling foul of a technical infringement which led to his disqualification.

Albon scored his best finish of the season with seventh place at Baku, but never returned to the points again. His season came to a patchy end which included a few notable errors such as his collision with Oliver Bearman in practice for the Mexican Grand Prix.

But Albon’s nadir came in Brazil, where the team was already growing concerned about its parts shortage. He was flying in Sunday’s postponed qualifying session when he crashed heavily in Q3, ending any chance of him starting a race in which, as the Alpine drivers demonstrated, significant points were in the offing.

There were many other occasions in 2024 when Albon brought home a car which wasn’t a strong contender for a points finish. But there were a few missed opportunities too, which he must not repeat this year when he goes up against his toughest team mate since Max Verstappen five years ago.

Alexander Albon

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