Three races into the 2024 Formula 1 season, it’s become clear that the bottom five Constructors are going to be fighting over the minor points-paying positions every weekend.
The opening race in Bahrain saw the strongest five teams fill every position in the top ten and Lance Stroll’s crash in Saudi Arabia saw an intense battle break out that ultimately ended in Nico Hulkenberg finishing 10 thanks to his teammate sacrificing his entire race.
Speaking on Sky Sports F1, Naomi Schiff was talking about the fate of another driver in that group of cars.
There are now three teams who have yet to score a point and Alpine don’t look like adding to their tally any time soon.
Sauber continue to self-sabotage their races with awful pit stops that likely cost Valtteri Bottas his first point on Sunday.
However, Schiff was referring to Alex Albon who narrowly missed out on a top-ten finish at the end of the Australian Grand Prix after a tough battle with Hulkenberg.
The pressure was ramped up on the 28-year-old after he was handed Logan Sargeant’s chassis following a huge crash he suffered in the first practice session.
Naomi Schiff laments ‘unfortunate’ Alex Albon weekend at Australian Grand Prix
It’s been a long time since a single driver has gone into a Grand Prix knowing the entire team are relying on him.
Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, teams would have a spare car available for the race itself if a driver crashed.
That practice ended in 2008, but Williams were suffering from the opposite problem and didn’t even have a spare chassis available in Melbourne.
Sargeant’s performances during his rookie campaign and the opening two races of 2024 meant Williams didn’t feel comfortable with him racing in Australia and Albon sitting on the sidelines.
It’s a damming indictment of the American’s long-term prospects in the sport but put his teammate in a difficult position too.
Schiff has admitted it was unfortunate that Albon had to deal with that during the Australian Grand Prix weekend.
While he is to blame for wrecking his car in practice, the team’s lack of preparation cost Sargeant his chance of racing.
Albon yet to get off the mark as Williams suffer difficult start
Speaking about the 28-year-old driver, Schiff said: “Yeah, it was really unfortunate for Alex today, I think he had the world’s pressure on his shoulders with everything that happened this weekend.
“The team sacrificing Logan’s car to be able to go out there and fight for the remaining points on the board.
“But, unfortunately, I think that overall they overestimated the package that they had and I think they had to count on things potentially going wrong, red flag, a DNF here and there and they wanted to be there to collect whatever points were left over.
“But, unfortunately, today, even with all those DNFs of Lewis Hamilton, George Russell in the end and Max Verstappen, they still finished outside of the top ten because crucially Haas and Yuki were able to collect the extra points.”
Schiff’s assessment of Albon’s race during the Australian Grand Prix is fair and highlights that the team have taken a step backwards – or at least taken a smaller step forward – compared to their rivals since last year.
In races where three front-running cars retired last year, Williams would be primed to score points through Albon and a Williams car known for having exceptional top speed.
Now, the car is better balanced but less spectacular and Haas have leapfrogged them in the pecking order.
It will be fascinating to see if Albon is willing to give Williams another year to prove they can improve enough to fulfil his goals.
Otherwise, he might be making more noises that the vacant Mercedes seat is something that really interests him.
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