‘The best is yet to come’ from Albon, says Williams F1 boss Capito

Albon was announced by Williams as its new signing alongside Nicholas Latifi for the 2022 season on Wednesday, completing its revised driver line-up following George Russell’s departure to Mercedes.

The Anglo-Thai racer made his F1 debut with Toro Rosso in 2019 and earned promotion to Red Bull after just 12 races, with Pierre Gasly going the opposite way as part of a seat swap.

Following a difficult season-and-a-half as Max Verstappen’s teammate, Albon was dropped from Red Bull’s senior team at the end of 2020. He has spent this year dovetailing a reserve driver role alongside racing in the DTM.

SEE ALSO: Why Albon won the race to replace Russell at Williams 

But Capito is confident Williams can help Albon realise his full potential in F1.

“I look at what Alex has done in the past and it is not to recycle him,” Capito told media including Crash.net. "He has done a great job, being the team mate of Max is something very difficult, as much as difficult to be the team mate of Hamilton.

“And what you see in McLaren, you see how difficult it is for Danny [Ricciardo] to come into a new car. It’s very difficult to judge somebody just on one season, you have to see the whole career and what he has done, and there are always different circumstances that you cant just judge in a single race result.

“When I look at the whole career of Alex and what he has done, how he worked, his character and also the comments of people having worked with him we came to the conclusion that he is the right guy for us next year.”

While Capito was keen to avoid going into detail about Albon’s contractual status, Red Bull confirmed it has “released” Albon to race for Williams in 2022 but “retains a relationship with him that includes future options”.

Capito is hopeful of keeping hold of Albon for more than a single season and is looking at the signing as a long-term project.

“In the moment I wouldn’t see the reason why not,” Capito said when asked if Williams is looking to build its future around Albon.

“It would be nice if it would turn out like this but in racing you never know, lots of things can happen. But part of our choice was somebody we can build the team with and already still has experience with a young age.

“I think he has a fantastic experience. He went through a lot, had ups and downs, [is] very mature as a driver. And I think for his age he has the best still to come, and that was one of the major decision points.”

Asked if Williams is likely to have Red Bull branding on its cars next year, Capito replied: “Not because of Alex’s arrival but you know we also are in various discussions, it doesn’t mean Red Bull comes on the car or not.

"I’ve worked with Red Bull a long time, I first worked with them in the late 90s when I was at Sauber so I’ve got a relationship with Red Bull since then and I’m friends with the guys from Red Bull.

“But it doesn’t mean they have to be on the car or not, so we will see.”