Williams F1 team principal James Vowles has admitted that Alexander Albon found himself under more pressure after Franco Colapinto joined the team.
Vowles said the decision to promote Colapinto to the team in place of Logan Sargeant had three positive effects, including pushing Albon to raise his level of play.
“First of all, just by his character, Franco is an individual who loved every moment spent in his Formula 1 and in the team. You can see it in what he expressed to the world, what he said to television and how he was on the radio.”
“It helps because you have a really close-knit team, giving the opportunity to an individual who deserved the chance and deserved to be in Formula 1.”
“Secondly, it pushed Alex. There's no doubt about it. We've progressed as a team because we find different areas where we try different settings, different electronic tools, different ways of approaching the And every driver in the world, every human being in the world, becomes better by being challenged. And ultimately, Franco added skill to the team.
“Ultimately, what we saw is that we have a great future ahead of us. We have a thriving academy in the background, and Franco is a brilliant member of it. But we have much, much more, much younger, up to 10 years old. But the Williams Academy is real, it's authentic, and we're going to put these drivers in F1 if they deserve it.
