How Monza shows Albon's transformation to fearsome F1 battler

By:

Jake Boxall-Legge

Sep 5, 2023, 3:19 PM

OPINION: When Alex Albon was offered a second chance at the Formula 1 table following his troubled tenure at Red Bull, he came with minor scars to his reputation. At Williams, he's undone that damage and carved out a niche as a fearsome, elbows-out warrior

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In the heat of battle, one imagines that there are two different things that the current crop of Formula 1 drivers have least enjoyed facing up against this season. Seeing a bright yellow nosecone in their mirrors is guaranteed to be one of them, particularly when attached to the #1-marked Red Bull; after all, its very visage injects a creeping sense of inevitability into any wheel-to-wheel battle if it finds itself out of position.

The other is a little more circumstantial, but it's proven to be the case more than once this year: Alex Albon's rear wing. Like Gandalf facing up against the Balrog in Lord of the Rings, the FW45's mere presence ahead suggests to the driver behind that they shall, indeed, not pass. Just ask Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc, or Lando Norris.

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Jake Boxall-Legge

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Jake Boxall-Legge Autosport’s Technical Editor. Having studied Automotive Engineering with Motorsport at the University of Hertfordshire, West Country-born Jake's original ambition was to design racing cars. During a year between studies in which he accidentally rekindled a love of writing, he took up a Master's in Motorsport Engineering at Oxford Brookes. Halfway through his master's year, he was offered a place on the Autosport Academy, conducting occasional freelance duties before becoming the press officer for Formula 2 and GP3 in 2018. Autosport offered him a return to the fold later that year to serve as its Technical Editor. His voice appears on a number of videos and podcasts, and can often be found writing about terrible Formula 1 cars in excruciating detail. In his spare time, Jake enjoys baking and blames his failure to make it past the Great British Bake-Off interviews on his tenuous grasp on choux pastry. His dream is to open a brunch cafe - and his willingness to make outrageous puns in inappropriate situations has earned him the contempt of his colleagues.