Jost Capito threw down the gauntlet to Alexander Albon and challenged him to improve in the wake of his new contract.
Williams have tied down the 26-year-old after an impressive debut season to date. Their gamble to bring the British-Thai racer back into Formula 1 after a year away appears to have paid off despite their struggles to provide him with a competitive car.
It was announced on Wednesday that Albon has signed a new deal to stay with the team for at least two more seasons beyond this one. Williams chief Capito is thrilled with his impact so far, but has outlined at least one area where he can still give more.
"He's a real fighter once he closes the sights," the German told Motorsport.com . "But we think he could be more combative outside the car as well. He could be a bit harder on the engineers, for example. I think it would also create a better bond with them.
"But all in all, we are impressed. His year as a reserve gave him a good understanding of how the dynamics between a driver and a team work. He has seen a team working with the drivers from the sidelines and I think that helps him a lot."
Albon had dropped out of the sport to compete in DTM after being replaced at Red Bull following a difficult 18 months with the team. Explaining those difficulties, he revealed that he never felt at one with the car – but that has changed since his Williams move.
"I'd say the most positive thing I felt is, even though I had a year away, I feel like I'm confident in myself," said Albon. "I'm feeling good in the car. I think that's the first thing which I always talked about being tricky – that you drive certain cars and sometimes one car can feel like it drives you. It's like you're trying to wrestle it rather than letting the car do its thing.
"Very early on with the Williams, even if it has its styles of driving, I still felt like I could get on top of it. I think I felt confident enough to drive it how I wanted to drive it, and that kind of helps straightaway.
"We've had a really good start to the season, really enjoyed my time... and yeah, you know, I'm really happy for the future. For the rest of the season, we’ll keep our heads down. We're going to focus on maximising the car and doing the best job we can, but to know that it goes beyond that is very exciting."
