Alex Albon spent a year away from F1 but came back more prepared than ever.- Off the track, he is also closer to the other drivers thanks to a shared love of golf.
One of the best moments of the young 2022
After starting at the back of the field, Albon managed his tires and stayed on the track as other drivers made pit stops. He improved to seventh place and didn't take his one required pit stop until the penultimate lap, holding on for 10th place and Williams' first point of the season.
It was a huge moment for Albon, who spent the 2021 season absent a permanent seat on the grid — instead, spending the year on the sidelines as Red Bull's reserve driver.
Without a chance to work on his skills in an F1 car, Albon had to make the most of his time preparing for another shot.
"It was a very different position because I couldn't actually drive the car," Albon told Insider before the Miami Grand Prix. "So a lot of what I was doing was on a simulator. It was done with my trainer and just kind of understanding, Okay, what areas that I feel weak at and what areas do I want to improve and how I'm gonna improve them."
The 26-year-old Thai-British driver noted the challenge by contrasting his year away from the sport against other athletes, such as golfers and tennis players, who could still go out and actually play and practice their sport even if not at the highest professional level.
Despite the challenges, the new Williams driver says he did feel stronger as a driver.
"I feel more prepared and more ready for Formula One than I was before, despite having a year away from it," Albon said.
Albon feels closer to the other drivers this time, too, thanks to golf
While F1 and the wildly popular Netflix series "Drive to Survive" like to play up the competition and rivalries between the drivers on the track, many drivers have found a common hobby that brings them closer together away from the races — golf.
"[We are attracted to golf] because of how different [the sport] is," Albon said. "You're going from such a fast-paced sport to then something where the ball doesn't even move. It's very relaxing for us. I feel like we've all gotten to enjoy it a lot together. We've grown into the sport, Lando [Norris], myself, Charles [Leclerc], who started learning the sport, and George [Russell] as well. We've got into it a lot more, and it's great that we get to travel so much and hopefully, days where we can arrive a day early, we'll spend golfing and having some fun."
He even noted that the drivers have a WhatsApp group in which 99% of the talk is about golf and when they will play next.
Albon had already started playing golf in 2019, but his attraction to the sport accelerated when he began dating LPGA golfer Muni "Lily" He, who accompanied Albon in Miami.
While golf's slower pace and scenic nature may help the drivers relax, these are still professional athletes. When we asked Albon if it ever gets competitive, the look in his eyes quickly changed to something more intense and more like it is when the helmet goes on.
"It gets competitive," Albon said. "Of course, yes. Okay. Balls get miscounted. The scoring goes a little bit strange. But yes, it does get competitive as always ... We're athletes. We're athletes all the time."
—Alex Albon (@alex_albon) March 14, 2022
One thing that has not changed for Albon is his big heart off the track
While we visited Albon before the Miami Grand Prix, he was hosting Ryder, a young boy with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, through the help of Duracell.
Ryder, a huge F1 fan, got to shadow Albon all weekend, and you could tell how much the experience meant to the driver.
"This year, I felt like I've been able to work with children much more," Albon said. "I've been really enjoying that role of at least trying to give positive energy and trying to make an impact on their lives with Duracell that's come on board this year with Williams.
"To give [Ryder] this opportunity and have given him experience this weekend, it's really special. You can see how much he enjoys it. He couldn't leave me! He was always two feet away from me. Big F1 fan. It's amazing to be able to give that kind of thing to him."
In partnership with Duracell and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Alex and the Williams team gave Ryder a once-in-a-lifetime experience to go behind the scenes at the paddock, joined Alex on a track walk, garage tour, as well as a pit stop challenge ahead of the GP weekend.
After scoring that first point in Australia, Albon showed it wasn't a fluke with a ninth-place showing in Miami. That is an impressive finish for a driver who took a year off, and it suggests he is probably here to stay this time.