Former Ferrari engineer Rob Smedley praised Alex Albon for the strong start of the 2025 F1 season after “many question marks” about his shape.
After being dropped to Red Bull at the end of 2020, Albon spent the following year on the sidelines before returning to Formula 1 full-time with Williams.
Albon slowly rebuilds his reputation with his glove-based outfit.
However, given the identity of his previous teammates, question marks remained as to his ultimate level of performance.
Nicholas Latifie and Logan Sargent proved to be weak competition.
Soon, Franco Colapinto proved to be a Sterner test, leading to concerns about how good Albon is.
Albon is performing his new teammate Carlos Sainz with questions about his level in Formula 1.
Albon scored 30 points in the opening sixth round, bringing an impressive eighth place in the Formula 1 drivers championship.
Smedley, a race engineer at Felipe Massa from 2006 to 2013, believes Albon is silenced critics.
“I think it also depends on the fact that they have two very good drivers. There were a lot of question marks from the bystanders, ‘How good was Alex?’,” Smedley told the F1 Nation Podcast.
“How good was the driver he opposed since he was demoted from the Red Bull team, especially how good was the driver he opposed at Williams at the start of his journey.
“I can now answer Carlos. Alex is a very good driver. Alex stepped under the table. I know how good Carlos is and that Carlos is one of the best all-round drivers on the grid.
Albon: “In the form of his life”
Legendary Formula 1 commentator Martin Blandle also noticed Albon’s impressive performance in 2025.
Brandle described Albon as “in the form of his life” following the Miami Grand Prix.
Albon came in fifth in Miami, beating Kimi Antonelli, Charles Leclair and Lewis Hamilton.
That meant Williams had the fourth fastest car in Merit in Miami.
Williams scored 37 points in the opening sixth round, making his best start of the year since 2017.