Alexander Albon — 2023 season

Alexander Albon's 2023 Formula 1 season at Williams solidified his reputation as a key asset, singularly responsible for the team's entire 27-point haul and a significant jump in the Constructors' Championship standings. In an era dominated by Red Bull, with the ground-effect regulations in their second year, Albon consistently maximized the potential of the Williams FW45.

Going in

Coming into 2023, Williams aimed to build on a challenging 2022 campaign. The ground-effect regulations, introduced in 2022, presented a steep learning curve for many teams, and Williams had finished at the bottom of the Constructors' Championship. Albon, having rejoined the team in 2022 after a year out of a full-time F1 seat, was tasked with leading the development and extracting performance from the new generation of cars. His experience, particularly from his time at Red Bull, was crucial for guiding the team's technical direction, a role that became increasingly evident as the season progressed.

How it played out

The season started promisingly with a tenth-place finish in Bahrain, immediately putting Williams on the scoreboard. However, the early part of the year also saw retirements in Saudi Arabia (brakes) and Australia (accident), indicating the FW45's nascent development. The European leg of the calendar, starting with Monaco and Barcelona, was largely point-less, but Albon's ability to qualify the car higher than its typical race pace suggested underlying potential. His breakthrough came at the Canadian Grand Prix, where he qualified ninth and executed a strategic race to finish seventh, earning six points. This performance was a clear indicator of both Albon's skill and the FW45's specific strengths, particularly its straight-line speed.

The summer months brought further strong results. An eighth-place finish at Silverstone, followed by another eighth in Zandvoort and a seventh at Monza, underscored a period of genuine competitiveness for Williams on certain circuit layouts. These circuits, often characterized by long straights, played directly into the FW45's aerodynamic efficiency. Albon's consistent points finishes were pivotal; he scored all 27 of Williams's points, propelling them to seventh in the Constructors' Championship, a significant improvement from the previous year. This mirrors the impact a driver can have on a midfield team's fortunes, much like Pierre Gasly's performance with AlphaTauri in 2021 which also saw him as the primary points scorer for his team.