Williams boss Vowles hails Albon's progress over past year

Williams team principal James Vowles has been praising driver Alex Albon and the progress he's made over the last 12 months.

The 27-year-old London-born Thai driver made his F1 debut with Toro Rosso in 2019, and went on to spend a season anda half at the senor Red Bull team alongside Max Verstappen.

However a lack of consistency saw him let go, and he ended up moving to Williams in 2022 replacing Mercedes-bound George Russell and has improved by leaps and bounds ever since.

“I think if you look at him across the year, and even speak to him openly and candidly, he's not the same driver that I started with in Bahrain," Vowles told Motorsport.com.

"He has really matured across the season and he got the most out of the car, there is no doubt about that," he added.

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“He's really quick, he has the right mindset," he explained. "That's really important - not just for him, but for any driver to get the most out of themselves."

Albon was responsible for earning all but one of the 28 points that put Williams up into seventh place the final constructors standings at the end of 2023 ahead of AlphaTauri, Alfa Romeo and Haas.

“We were seventh as a result of his incredible drives this year," Vowles acknowledged. "The team did a great job with getting the car together and stretching it, but he's still had four or six cars behind him that were down his neck the whole race.

"That's quite impressive," Vowles insisted," adding that he expected better things to come from Albon in the future. “What I like about him is he hasn't stopped growing yet.

“He hasn't stopped maturing yet, but also what I like about him is there's no politics," he said. “He just wants to get in the car and drive quickly, and I think that's why it works really well.”

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