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A Day in the Life of F1 Driver Alex Albon
Alex Albon is optimistic about his year.
"I would say we wish we started off [the year] a little bit stronger," the F1 driver tells Town & Country over Zoom from Miami. "We had quite a lot of positive momentum ending 2023, so we were hoping that we continue in 2024. I would say it's been, for the most part, positive, but we want more, basically. We're in this middle phase right now where we're a little bit further behind than we want to be."
Still, he remains upbeat. Looking ahead to the Miami Grand Prix, which begins today, Albon says, "I'm hoping we're at this turning point now—we're bringing upgrades to the car, which, in F1, is the most important thing." What's he looking forward to about being in Miami? Albon replies with a smile, "We don't get to see much!" But, he has been able to eat out a little bit—having a lot of Peruvian food, in particular, and he's also hoping to try some Cuban coffee before he flies home to the UK on Monday. "Other than that," he says, "it's more just getting used to the the track and hoping that we can score some points."
Ahead of Miami, Albon reflects on the unique life of a F1 driver as he gives T&C an inside peek at a race day (the photos were all taken at the Chinese Grand Prix, the stop before Miami on the the Formula 1 World Championship calendar).
"When I first joined Williams, it was still quite a growing team. We were at the back, so the pressure wasn't so high, and I felt like we were just trying to to figure out what we needed to do to fight towards the midfield. We were still discovering ourselves," Albon says. "Now you really see how the team has matured and grown confident and believe in themselves. We don't feel like we belong at the back, we feel like we belong in the midfield. And now our sights are towards the next thing: to score podiums. That's exciting, that energy you can feel resonate."
Pictured here with James Vowels, Team Principal at Williams, and Logan Sargeant, his Williams teammate.
"One of the downsides of there being only two drivers on the team is all the commercial and marketing efforts are centered around just two individuals," Albon says. "So it's either you or your teammate doing it, and you end up being pulled around quite a lot. It's always about finding a balance—prioritizing performance and rest is always tricky. I do know when other athletes come to watch F1, one of the first things they always tell us is, 'You guys do a lot.' That's just the name of the game."
The best piece of advice Albon ever received "is pretty simple," he says, "but it involves a swear word." That advice? "Don't give a fuck, basically. As I got into Formula 1, I realized that there is huge noise around the non-driving part of the sport. The driving part I've always done my whole life; driving a F1 car is one of the easiest things stepping from Formula 2 to Formula 1—it's what feels the most natural. What doesn't feel natural was all that stuff around it: the media, the marketing, the commercial side of things, the pressure side of things."
He continues, "It's easy to feel like everything matters and that you got to please everyone, but at the end of the day, you have to take care of yourself and put yourself first and you have to be selfish. As time went on, I learned that."
Pictured here with teammate Logan Sargeant.
Albon's ability to advocate for himself, and set boundaries when it comes to media and other responsibilities, has been a learning curve. Back when he made his Formula 1 debut—he drove for Toro Rosso during the 2019 season, and Red Bull from 2019 through 2021—he realized he was getting burnt out very quickly and early in the season, and his fitness, mental wellbeing, and happiness were all being compromised. When he joined Williams in 2022, "it was one of those things which I addressed quite early. I remember my first day: I was quite strong on how I wanted to go about my second chance in Formula 1. Williams [has been] very respectful about that, and always makes sure that I am able to perform at my best."
Warming up is critical before a race, Albon says. "The G forces that we experience is a bit of a shock to the body if it's cold. A lot of drivers get neck injuries and neck spasms." He starts off his pre-race routine with general cardio, then stretches for his lower body up to his neck. "Before we finish, we do reaction drills, light drills, and things to wake the mind up before we before we head out," he says.
"There's also a period between that [warm-up] time and getting into the car where I'll do visualization," Albon says. "It's a unique sport where we don't actually drive that much—even during the weekend itself!—I tend to to visualize the circuit, visualize the lap that I want to do. I'm making changes from the previous session in my head [before] I actually drive it for real."
The Formula 1 circuit sees Albon and the other drivers traveling around the world constantly. Navigating that travel is all about "multitasking," he says. "We have a sleep doctor, giving us advice around daylight, accessing daylight over night time, wearing sunglasses, avoiding lights in certain times, using tinted glasses, that kind of thing."
On his week off between the China and Miami races, Albon flew to Los Angeles to spend time with his girlfriend, Lily Muni (pictured), a professional golfer. "My relationship is long-distance, so I end up doing a little bit more travel than most [drivers]. But we make it work!"
"In recent times, especially, Formula 1 has become much more of like a friendship group," he says of his fellow drivers. "A lot of us are a similar age and so we've grown up together and maintained that relationship."
"We obviously see each other more than we see most people," he says, joking, "I see Logan more than I do my own girlfriend! You can imagine that inevitably, you form a bond or [there's] deep, deep hatred."
Pictured with Logan Sargeant and Lewis Hamilton.
"Once the helmet's on—I know people say it—you really do shift into a performance mindset, so then everyone's your enemy. For the most part, even if we have a crash and there's anger at the situation, we're all grown-ups, we all make up afterwards."
Being one of just 20 F1 drivers, Albon says, is unique. "When you start your career in go-karting and you think about Formula 1, it does seem like such a small group. The chances of making it, percentage-wise, is tiny. You think about it, but you don't think about it." He continues, "I often have to catch myself and remind myself just how fortunate I am to be in this small group."
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