After a year away from competition, Alex Albon will once again compete in Formula 1, joining Nicholas Latifi at Williams in 2022, the team announced Sept. 8.
Albon replaces George Russell, who’s driving for Mercedes next season.
Albon currently is a reserve and test driver for Red Bull Racing.
He ran two seasons for Toro Rosso and Red Bull in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Sergio Perez then joined Max Verstappen at Red Bull leaving Albon without a ride for 2021.
“I am really excited and looking forward to returning to a Formula One race seat in 2022,” Albon said in a team release. “When you take a year out of F1 it’s never certain you will make a return so I’m extremely thankful to Red Bull and Williams for believing in me and helping me on my journey back to the grid. It’s also been great to see all the progress Williams have been making as a team this year and I look forward to helping them continue that journey in 2022. My focus now returns to my Test & Reserve Driver role at Red Bull and helping the team fight for this year’s world championship.”
Albon earned a couple of third-place finishes in 2020 at Tuscany and Bahrain. He also has 25 top 10s so far in his F1 career.
Meanwhile, Latifi has been with Williams for the past two years, snagging two top 10s in Hungary and Belgium. His best finish of seventh was at the Hungaroring last month.
“I’m excited to be continuing with Williams for another year; partly because of F1’s new technical regulations, but also because the team is moving in a more competitive direction with new owners, management and people on the technical side,” Latifi said.
“I’ve felt at home here since the day I arrived, and I think I’m in the right place to continue with my positive trajectory. The aim is to continue making little improvements so we can all take advantage of the opportunity we have next year.
“I’m super excited to work with next year’s car and it’s like a fresh start for everybody. I feel privileged to be part of that change.”
F1 is at Monza this weekend; the Italian Grand Prix will air Sept. 12 at 9 a.m. ET on ESPN2.
About the author
Joy joined Frontstretch in 2019 as a NASCAR DraftKings writer, expanding to news and iRacing coverage in 2020. She's currently an assistant editor and involved with photos, social media and news editing. A California native, Joy was raised watching motorsports and started watching NASCAR extensively in 2001. She earned her B.A. degree in Liberal Studies at California State University Bakersfield in 2010.
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