Former Mercedes director picks one driver that is 'very underrated' on the F1 grid

Former Mercedes race director and Williams team principal James Vowles recently claimed that Alex Albon is a highly underrated driver. Albon started driving for the British team in 2022 and has been delivering some brilliant performances, especially considering the pace of the Williams car.

Speaking on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Vowles recalled Albon's outstanding performance in the Canadian GP and how he kept several quicker cars behind him to finish seventh. The former Mercedes director praised the driver and stated that it was a drive of champions. He said:

"I called him to explain to him that that was a drive of champions. I have worked with a good number of them, and it really was. He did not put a foot wrong at the point where he is under pressure from four incredibly fast charging cars behind on tires that was in much better state than his."

Vowels added:

"And actually, some of the work he was doing on positioning his car on exit of 10 and a few other corners was very clever, and he recognizes that. He is obviously not someone who is going to go and boast about it to the world. But for me that was a drive of champions that he did."

Vowels praised Albon's ability to squeeze every bit of performance out of a car. The Williams team principal stated that he is delighted to have the 27-year-old as a driver and wants him to stay with the team for a long time. He said:

"He is definitely bringing the car to the limit of its performance. That's what you are looking for from a driver. I think he is very underrated. I'm incredibly happy that he is here with our organization today and here for a long time."

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Mercedes team boss frustrated after the team's poor form in the Austrian GP

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff recently expressed his frustration over the team's poor performance in the 2023 F1 Austrian GP. Although Mercedes hoped that the high-speed circuit would save them from their poor low-speed pace, that was not the case. Speaking to the Italian wing of Motorsport.com, the Austrian said:

"We had foreseen that Montreal would not be ideal and instead it was surprisingly good, while in Austria we thought that high speed would save our poor performance at low speed, But that was not the case. I think in high speed we were on par with some of the best, but the car was never in the right place. We suffered from all conditions, from understeer to oversteer. It never went well."

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton managed to finish seventh and eighth respectively at the Austrian GP.