Alex Albon signs new multi-year deal with Williams – and aims cheeky dig at Alpine and Oscar Piastri drama

Alex Albon will remain with Williams Racing for ‘2023 and beyond’ after signing a multi-year deal with the Formula 1 team.

The Thai driver returned to the grid this year having been dropped for the 2021 season by Red Bull following some underwhelming performances.

Despite the Williams FW44 car being easily the slowest on the grid, Albon has consistently impressed and punched above his weight this year, notably scoring points at the Australian and Miami Grand Prix.

Having only signed a one-year deal with Williams, it was expected that the team would strive to renew his contract and that news was confirmed on Wednesday.

‘It’s really exciting to be staying with Williams Racing for 2023, and I look forward to seeing what we can achieve as a team in the remainder of this season and next year,’ Albon said upon the announcement.

‘It’s nice to have some peace of mind, obviously, going forwards about my career. I’ve really enjoyed my time here with Williams. It’s been a good year this year [although] we wanted more.

‘The team is pushing hard to progress, and I am really motivated to continue this journey and further develop our learnings together. We’ll keep our heads down. We’re going to focus on maximising the car and doing the best job we can.’

The announcement comes in a huge week of F1 news. On Monday, Fernando Alonso shockingly revealed that he would be leaving Alpine for Aston Martin to replace the retiring Sebastian Vettel.

On Tuesday, Alpine announced that Alonso’s seat would be taken by reserve driver Oscar Piastri, but just hours later the young Australian put out a statement claiming this was a lie and he would not be driving for the French team, sparking great chaos and amusement within the F1 community.

And Albon himself