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Sport

Albon says 2023 was his strongest season in F1

Albon logged all but one of the team's 28 points, making the top 10 seven times in grands prix, and also scoring in a sprint race.

He started in the top six at Zandvoort, Monza and Las Vegas, and his only real mistake came when he spun off in Australia, although first lap incidents in Japan and Brazil were also costly.

He frequently took advantage of the car's good straightline speed to successfully defend his position from potentially faster cars.

"I'm very proud of my performance," said Albon. "I'm not the most arrogant person I would say, but I will give myself credit, I feel like I've had a very strong season.

"I felt like most of my races haven't been simple, there have been races where we've been fighting, fighting, fighting the whole time.

"But I enjoy it. I feel that's the environment that I that I thrive in. For me, it's been my strongest year in F1. That connection that I have with the team has really helped that. I feel like that's where we've been able to execute everything we've done so well."

Albon acknowledged that the form of the car was inconsistent, with low downforce tracks inevitably favouring it. However, he insisted that the team always extracted the best performance from on a given weekend.

Alex Albon, Williams Racing (Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images)

"It's strange, because a lot of people think we're very inconsistent, but I personally think the execution of each weekend has been very consistent," he said. "The car itself is quite inconsistent. So we know, Monza, Vegas tracks go well, for us. We know cold tracks do well for us.

"We know what tracks don't work for us, we windy tracks don't work for us, tight tracks don't work for us.

"Our car does have its moments and one of our biggest focuses next year is to stop these weaknesses in our car. But the execution has been very strong, I think, and we made the most of opportunities.

"So that's why I believe we've been able to actually get P7, I think. When we've had the car to do it, we've made sure we've scored the points. I think others have either had a blunder with strategy or whatever it may have been, just to miss out on points."

Albon is eager to see what contribution new chief technical officer Pat Fry will make to the FW46, which will also be the first car designed under the leadership of team principal James Vowles, who started earlier this year.

"Time will tell," he said of Fry. "Obviously, he's just joined the team, I think he's getting up to speed very quickly. I feel like he's understanding the areas we need to improve in as well, which he will offer that guidance and mentorship to the team. So I'm very excited to have him on board.

"And I think we've sacrificed a lot this year to get to focus on next year's car, we haven't upgraded for much longer than our rivals. That can only really be a good thing.

"We did the bare minimum to finish P7. And now we're eyes on to next year. Obviously we have Pat on board, and it will be James's first proper year where he's had true leadership in the development of the car. So let's see."

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