Alex Albon denies 2024 has been “boring” despite Max Verstappen dominance

Williams driver Alex Albon has disagreed with critics that the 2024 F1 season has been “boring” amid Max Verstappen’s dominant start to the year.

Verstappen has won the opening two rounds with relative ease ahead of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.

It now means Verstappen has won 19 of the last 20 races, only failing to win the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix.

Speaking on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Albon described comments about the season being “boring” as a “bit of a shame”.

“In some ways, it’s a bit of a shame to see comments about Max and it being a boring season, because it’s totally not that, at least from my perspective,” he said.

“Because you take him out of the equation, you have one of the best grids, the best fields, the tightest grids ever in Formula 1. And even if you include Max, still it’s the tightest field in Formula 1.”

“It’s hard because it’s the leader, so everyone focuses on the leader. But the racing at the back is so intense.

“We pitted two laps too late in Bahrain during the race and we lost six positions, went from 11th and finished 15th. So it’s tight.”

Albon led Williams to their best finish in seven years last campaign, securing P7 in the constructors’ championship.

So far at least, it’s been difficult for the Grove outfit in a tight midfield.

Albon still feels Williams have made progress despite not scoring in the first two races.

“I always find wind is more of a balance amplifier. So let’s say you have a corner where you have front locking or understeer, that wind will only make it worse. For the same reason, if you have a bit of oversteer here and there, that wind is only going to make it worse. So you’re just pulling the car apart. It kind of really highlights issues in the car.

“The [FW]45 had a lot of issues. When the wind was behind us it was a nightmare and we’ve seen massive steps for this year. The only thing I would say to that is, everyone’s made a step. 

“So that midfield is quite frustrating because the top teams have made a step, the bottom midfield teams have made an even bigger step, but they’ve all made the same step.”