"We're not further away from the front" - Alex Albon feels battle for F1 midfield is 'frustratingly close'

Alex Albon feels Williams is closer to the midfield than previously thought. Williams has unquestionably struggled in the past few years, relegated to the back of the constructors' standings. Albon, who just drove his third race for the team this year, however, revealed that their potential to be fighting closer to the top in the midfield is higher than in recent seasons.

Albon pointed out that with the likes of Haas and Alfa Romeo also showing significant improvement this year, the transformation in Williams' performance may not seem as apparent. On the F1 Nation podcast, he claimed that the team appears to be struggling more than it actually is. He said:

“It’s almost frustratingly close for us, because it seems like Alfa [Romeo] and Haas have made that step up and they’ve joined the midfield battle. We’re not further away from the front than in previous years, it’s just that those guys have joined the pack and so it almost looks like we’re struggling, but Alfa and Haas have done a great job.”

During the Australian Grand Prix last weekend, Albon found himself battling it out in the midfield ahead of the two McLarens. This was something that certainly gave him and the rest of the team the motivation they were so desperate for. He further went on to add, saying:

“It was nice to mix it [with them] and when I was in that group of cars, I guess part of me was mostly looking in my rearview mirrors, but then, very quickly, I was losing them and I was pulling away from them. And I was like: ‘Oh, okay, here we go. We’re gapping them!’. It was really good.”

The Williams driver scored his first points for the team at the Australian Grand Prix with a tenth-place finish after pulling off a remarkable strategy with the support of his team.

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Alex Albon describes Australian GP result as "unimaginable"

Alex Albon was handed a three-place grid penalty ahead of the 2022 Australian Grand Prix and started the race from the absolute back of the grid.

As reported by formula1.com, the 26-year claimed that the team was expecting an 18th-place finish at best, saying:

“Of course, P10 seems unimaginable to us and when you come into your race strategy meeting [the expectation is] P19 and P20 and we had a big chunk to P18 – but it worked. And we had a slow stop, I think the front-left [tire] was a little slow, but it almost suited us because I almost came up right beside Zhou [Guanyu] and he couldn’t switch back or get a run into Turn 3. So that was the plan… ”

Alex Albon exceeded all expectations from the race weekend. He brought the team their first championship point after managing the entire race on a single set of hard tires and pitting on the last lap to abide by the rules.