Alex Albon says Williams won’t be “kicking itself” if it loses in Abu Dhabi its high stakes battle against AlphaTauri, a fight in the championship reportedly worth a cool $9 million of prize money.
On the eve of the final round of the 2023 F1 season, Williams holds a seven-point advantage over AlphaTauri in the Constructors’ standings.
It has been estimated that the difference in prize money between P7 – where Williams sits – and P8 is approximately $9 million, which would represent a welcome influx of additional cash for either team.
While Williams holds a small points advantage over its rival in the championship, AlphaTauri has outperformed the Grove-based outfit in three of the last four races.
The British team will give it its all on Sunday at Yas Marina. But Albon says Williams won’t harbor any regrets if it loses out to its adversary given how it has managed its campaign and the positive outlook this has created for 2024.
"We're pretty self-confident in ourselves that we've done the right thing," commented the Anglo-Thai racer.
"We've talked about it enough, but we have stopped our development for a long time now and, if we lose out for what we're focusing on for next year, it's not going to be a kicking yourself moment.
“I do think we're going to see the rewards next year."
Nevertheless, Albon says Williams would obviously welcome the additional income and better position in the paddock that P7 would deliver.
"Money talks,” he acknowledged. "We can say it doesn't really affect us, but of course we're racers, everyone's a racer in the team, and we all care about what position we finish.
"That walk into the pitlane [down to the Williams motorhome] is a little bit too long at the minute, and one position already makes a difference. So, let's see.”
Williams is well supported by its owner, US private equity firm Dorilton Capital. But any additional hard-earned cash is always a big plus.
"It will help the team, and it will speed up the development of the team as well," he said. "Dorilton put the cash in, and it would benefit everyone if they had to put it in a bit less.
"So, there's a big drive and a big want this weekend to finish in P7. It's clearly our number one priority coming into the weekend."
Williams’ 2023 season has been a mixed bag mainly due to its car’s performance swings over the course of the year. But seventh in the championship would be a strong achievement on Albon’s view.
"I'm very proud of what we've achieved at the team," he said. "I think about the races that we've scored points in, and we haven't had really a smooth race where we've just gone: that was nice. I wish we had more of them.
"Unfortunately, a lot of them are holding up a bunch of cars behind us, which is what we've become renowned for.
"The car has improved a lot from last year. We're going into every weekend feeling like there's a chance to score points. But, even in that case, our race pace is not always that great. And yet we still come away with good points.
"I think Melbourne was the only race where I felt like I missed an opportunity to score points. But every other race we've done this year, when there's been a chance, we've done it and I think that's been the main difference against our rivals."
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