James Vowles thinks Alex Albon is ready for a very different fight with Max Verstappen than the one he lost four years ago.
Speaking to media, the Williams team principal described Albon as “absolutely flying everywhere” and argued the Thai-British driver would stack up far better against Verstappen today than he did during his Red Bull stint. “If you put him up against Max today, he would be a completely different animal to what was there before,” Vowles said, stressing that the shift isn’t raw speed so much as repeatability and resilience. “Has his peak gone up a lot? Probably not. Is the ability to get there every time there? Yes.”
That’s a pointed endorsement for a driver whose first shot at the big time was a whirlwind. Albon was hastily promoted into F1 in 2019, starting with Toro Rosso and, after 12 grands prix, being bumped up to Red Bull alongside Verstappen. He banked two podiums and just shy of 200 points before the axe fell at the end of 2020, replaced by Sergio Perez and parked as a test driver.
Since joining Williams in 2022, Albon has rebuilt the reputation that once made Red Bull fast-track him in the first place. The speed has always been there; what Vowles highlights now is composure. That’s been visible in how Albon manages tricky weekends, salvages results from awkward grids, and keeps errors to a minimum. In the middle of the pack, those habits are worth real points.
Naturally, that form keeps stirring the old rumour mill. A return to Milton Keynes has been mooted — not least given Red Bull’s Thai ownership links — but Albon’s current Williams deal is understood to run through the end of 2027. In other words, any reunion would require proper heavy lifting.
Still, Vowles’ read is revealing. He’s not dangling hyperbole; he’s separating headline pace from the craft of accessing it under pressure, every session, every Sunday. That’s where Verstappen’s teammates have been found wanting, and where Albon, in Vowles’ eyes, has grown up.
Would a Verstappen–Albon rematch look different now? On recent evidence, you’d back Albon to land more punches than last time. Whether he gets that fight is another matter entirely. Williams won’t be in a hurry to let their team leader go — especially if he keeps delivering the kind of consistency that has his boss talking about him in the same breath as F1’s benchmark.
