Williams announce Alex Albon is staying with team on multi-year deal

Henry Valantine 03 Aug 2022 3:06 PM

Williams driver Alex Albon arrives in the paddock. France July 2022.

Williams driver Alex Albon walks through the paddock as he's filmed by a team member. France July 2022.

Williams have announced Alex Albon will be staying with the team after signing a new multi-year contract that has secured his Formula 1 future.

Albon in time for the 2022 season after spending a year on the sidelines, having been dropped by Red Bull in favour of Sergio Perez.

He has scored three points for Williams this season in what has largely been the field’s backmarking car, and the team described his new deal as being for “2023 and beyond”.

Albon has performed well upon his return to Formula 1, having roundly out-performed the under-pressure Nicholas Latifi in the sister car.

Team principal Jost Capito had hinted that Albon would be staying with the team when speaking in Hungary last weekend, but the deal has now been officially signed and sealed.

He even took the time to have a jab at Oscar Piastri’s ‘announcement’ that he had in fact not signed for Alpine next season, copying his social media post – with tongue firmly in cheek – even getting a response from the Australian himself in the process.

But in on-track matters, the Thai-British driver spoke highly of his time at Williams so far this season, saying that his confidence level is high and he feels well integrated at the team.

I understand that, with my agreement, Williams Racing have put out a press release this afternoon that I am driving for them next year. This is right and I have signed a contract with Williams for 2023. I will be driving for Williams next year.

😂 let’s gooo @williamsracing 💪 pic.twitter.com/NNljcXOieE

— Alex Albon (@alex_albon) August 3, 2022

“I’d say the most positive thing I felt is, even though I had a year away, I feel like I’m confident in myself,” Albon told reporters recently.

“I’m feeling good in the car. I think that’s the first thing which I always talked about being tricky, that you drive certain cars and sometimes one car can feel like it drives you. It’s like you are trying to wrestle it rather than letting the car do its thing.

“Very early on with the Williams, even if it has its styles of driving, I still felt like I could get on top of it. I think I felt confident enough to drive it how I wanted to drive it, and that kind of helps straight away.”

This announcement leaves just five seats left to be decided on the 2023 grid, one of which being Albon’s Williams partner next season, along with one seat apiece at Haas, Alfa Romeo, Alpine and AlphaTauri.

Williams junior driver Logan Sargeant, Formula E champion Nyck de Vries and the most talked-about person in Formula 1 at the moment, Piastri, are thought to be the frontrunners to replace Nicholas Latifi next year, should the Canadian’s contract not be renewed.