Alexander Albon believes his 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season was his strongest one to date, even though he was racing towards the back of the grid with Williams Racing.
The Thai driver returned to the grid in 2022 after sitting out the 2021 season, with Albon forced to compete sparingly in the DTM Series after Oracle Red Bull Racing opted to replace him with Sergio Pérez.
Albon scored half of Williams eight points in 2022 courtesy of a ninth-place finish in the Miami Grand Prix and tenth place finishes in Australia and Belgium. But despite the lack of chances to score points, he feels his year with Williams was stronger compared to his two years racing for the Red Bull family in 2019 and 2020.
“I think it’s been a tricky one in some respects,” said Albon to Motorsport.com. “I feel like personally speaking, it’s been a very positive year. I think it’s been my strongest year in F1. I haven’t done many years, but out of the three, it’s my strongest one.
“And I feel like I’ve developed as a driver, which is really the main thing. And I feel like, with the experience that I’ve learned over the last few years, I’ve been able to apply it in the right ways.
“And I feel like I’ve got the most from it. I think it’s hard, because at the end of the day I think it’s hard for [outsiders] to judge how it’s gone. But personally speaking behind the wheel it feels very positive.”
Albon says he was able to regain in 2022 the confidence he lost during his time with Red Bull, and he was able to get on top of driving the FW44 quicker than he had done racing for his previous employers.
“I believe that the main thing is just the confidence with the car, more than anything it’s the driving confidence, I feel like I’ve got that back, which is the most important because obviously, you’ve got to drive quickly,” Albon said.
“I feel like this year I’ve been on top of the car, I feel like I’ve been able to push it to the limit. And that was something which I struggled a bit with in 2020, just starting to lose that authority on the car, and being able to get what I want out of it.
“I was a little bit reactive in that sense in 2020, just kind of letting the car do its thing and then reacting to that. Whereas this year, I just feel like I was able to put the car where I want it.
“And not to say that it’s more stable, because it isn’t, it’s less stable. But yeah, truthfully speaking it felt like, soon as I first drove it, I straightaway felt good in it. And it’s just built from there. And each race has gone by I feel like I have more confidence. And of course the good results helped.”