Formula 1

Williams sees comparisons between Albon and Russell as natural, but criticizes: "Unfair and useless

Grove team performance chief Dave Robson said he wasn't sure if comparisons "are necessarily fair or useful"

Alexander Albon, the replacement of George Russell after the British driver left for Mercedes, has been standing out at Williams. With good performances at the beginning of the Formula 1 season and with three points in the Drivers' World Championship - the only ones of the British team, won on two different occasions - the Thai driver's performance resembles that of his friend at the Grove team.

Williams' head of performance, Dave Robson, has shown he understands the reasons for such inevitable comparisons between the two drivers. However, when asked about it, he did not hide a certain dissatisfaction.

George Russell: inevitable target of comparisons (Photo: Mercedes)

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"I suppose it's natural, not only for their time at Williams, but for all the history between them - which goes back a long time. I'm not sure it's necessarily fair or useful to make comparisons. They are different drivers, but the results at the moment are probably at least as good with Alex (Albon)," he said.

Dave Robson then went on to heap praise on the Thai driver. According to the Williams performance chief, Albon's impact on the Grove team goes far beyond his performance in the cockpit of the FW-44.

"He has a huge talent. Not just in driving the car, but also in pulling the team together and making sure we work to the maximum every Sunday. He has a bright future," he said. "He's happy to just sit in the car and get as much out of it as he can. His attitude at every race has been exceptional. We haven't had brilliant qualifying sessions recently, but on Sundays, he gets the balance right between being aggressive on offense and defense."

"He just moves on, knows how to manage the tires and runs a very good race, which allows us a little flexibility in strategy. We know he's going to respond accordingly, deal with it and get the best out of the car. So that's probably the thing that's impressed the most with his approach to racing," Robson concluded.