A Look Back: Alex’s 2022 campaign

Looking back on Albono’s first season with Williams Racing

Published

23 Jan 2025

Est Reading Time

3 min

It was all change for Alex in 2022, as he made the switch from Red Bull to join Williams Racing.

Albono replaced George Russell at the historic F1 team, following the British driver’s departure to Mercedes — and it didn’t take too long for AA23 to get up to speed in the FW44, alongside new team-mate Nicholas Latifi.

Alex kicked off the season with P13 and P14 finishes in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, respectively, before finally getting a point on the board at the Australian Grand Prix.

Remarkably, our Thai racer finished P10 in Melbourne despite starting last on the grid — edging ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu to claim a valuable point for his new side.

He almost repeated that feat in the following round, too, but just missed out in Emilia Romagna after climbing from P18 to P11.

Fortunately, another successful Grand Prix was just around the corner, and it again involved an impressive rise through the ranks from Albono.

Alex once more found himself down in P18 after Quali at the inaugural Miami GP, before ascending to P9 over the course of the race to record his best result for Williams.

A series of challenging weekends followed that stateside sojourn, including a crash at the British GP that left AA23 needing precautionary checks in hospital.

But he was able to get back on track at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Round 14, thanks to a commendable qualifying performance.

Albono reached Q3 for the first time since arriving at Grove, before his P9 placing was upgraded to sixth on the starting grid after penalties elsewhere.

That opportunity didn’t go to waste, as Alex claimed his fourth point of the year with a P10 finish.

It was to be his last return of 2022, however, despite placing P13 or higher in Zandvoort, Austin, Mexico City and Abu Dhabi.

And things took a dramatic turn ahead of Round 16 when Alex had to withdraw from the Italian Grand Prix after suffering anaesthetic complications following appendicitis surgery.

He recovered in time for the Singapore Grand Prix in October, but wasn’t able to add to his tally at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

A final total of four points represented half of Williams’ haul for the year, and laid the foundations for a far more productive campaign in 2023.

“This year has been a massive team effort and we’ve done our best in maximising the car,” said Alex, following the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

“We haven’t had the easiest car to drive which is no secret but I’m really proud of everyone.

“We know our weaknesses and we’ve maximised our opportunities when we were struggling, and when the car was in a decent window, that’s when we scored points.

“This puts us in a good place for when we have a better car next year.”