Albon: Williams can't afford 'to throw pasta at the wall'

Alex Albon says Williams, contrary to his former team Red Bull, can't afford "to throw pasta at the wall and see if it sticks" when it comes to its development programme and upgrades.

Albon spent over two years with Red Bull Racing, enjoying a full-time seat with the squad from mid-2019 to the end of 2020 before acting as the outfit's reserve driver in 2021.

But at the end of last year, the 26-year-old returned to the grid with Williams, a move that has so far yielded just two top-ten finishes due to the lack of competitiveness of the Grove-based outfit's FW44.

Even considering the sport's budget cap, Williams and Red Bull are logically managed according to very different financial and operational controls according to Albon.

"It's hard now because obviously, budget caps come into place, so I don't know how it is at Red Bull now, but let's say, you see how much more selective and just kind of... it is that thing of, the thought behind each update that we bring has to be reported back really," explained the Anglo-Thai racer.

"We can't be wasting time or money on upgrading the car.

"On that side, I think as drivers, we also play quite a big impact on them, it is not so much as throwing pasta at the wall and seeing if it sticks."

• Read also: Williams confirms multi-year deal with Albon, who agrees!

Despite the financial divide that exits between Williams and Red Bull, Albon says the way the work "is still similar".

He says he actually enjoys the smaller scale of williams' operations relatiove to his former team.

"Of course, there's a bit more of a family feel here," he said. "It is a bit more intimate in working with the guys, which I do enjoy, but of course, yes, it is a different position.

"It's not an update every weekend that the top teams are doing. It's also about managing or maximising each detail that you're in control.

"We really look at every bit whether it's strategies through to tyres, through to setup.

"We've got a car, we know that upgrades don't come in that often, so we're always just chipping away at it.

"It's much more about really, a good weekend for us is really getting all the little pieces right. It feels almost like it's more in the details when you can't have updates so often."

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter