The mental side of racing performance

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Find the limited edition Durasol and Messi batteries in stores Low's and Walmart, or onn Amazon Alex Albon reaches a major milestone in twenty twenty six when he becomes the driver with the most race starts in Williams history Williams gave me my opportunity to get back onto the forer one grid. I don't think a lot of teams would have taken that risk I would love to say, I think that for me it it's unfinished business Of course it would be lovely to win races and score podiums and I have that desire that my time will come again. That hope is with Williams Here on F one Beyond the Grid with me Tom Clarkson. Alex tells me what that Williams record means to him and how he's changed on and off the track since joining the team back in twenty twenty two. We also talk about Alex's relationship with teammate Carlos Sainz and where the Williams have reset their targets after a disappointing start to the new era of Formula One We're in this position more because we were taking a lot of risks. We want to be thinking outside the box and thinking as far ahead as we can and think realistically, we bit off more than we can shoot. We were maybe too ambitious Great to have you on the show again. How are you Very good, thank you. Not too bad. But we're in Monaco, so my raed. Home raise Very relaxed. I was thinking this is actually a good space to have an apartment. this is bigger than most apartments. this is bigger than I might inquire how much the space is to rent and how I'm going rent this place and I could leasase it out to Formmer onene That's a business plan. a nice little side hustle for you like. You know, while we're talking Monaco, you know how it normally clashes with the indie five hundred this year? It clashes with another American event, the US. Open Golf where your fiance Lily is competing Yes. It's in California so well is homeome tournament for her too. Yeah, but no sleep for Alex Albon this weekend if you're gonna to be watching her hole by hole, right? Yeah. That's gonna to be tricky. I will Normally S she will wake up around three PM hour time, more or less. That's pretty much how our relationship was for six, seven years now. So She wakes up around three o'clock and then U she'll pretty much start playing around the time that I'm having dinner And then I'll watch maybe the first four or five hes in then num then I do have to sleep or not I love her, but know that I do need to sleep On a serious note Does it help having a professional sports person as your other half? Be you understand the pressures and Yes. I think what I realized Growing up and spending time with more and more people . Very interesting to see how You know people that have come through some sorts of sportsy background when they can really empathize with the sacrifices and the hardships, the commitment that it takes to do whatever you're doing. and Um that can be not not in a in a bad way, but You can notice people who don't know what that is. And it can almost be confusing in many ways to people that but they They have no you know, they have no fun. they're just these kind of born and bred This is all they care about kind of thing But with Lily, of course, she's very much on a very similar path to me. We are It's all we've grown up doing and It helps a lot. I think in just general li, general conversations When we're having our lows, having our highs, whatever it may be you have a sounding board that resonates very closely to you. so It is very Very lucky to have that. Cratulations on the engagement, by the way. Thank you. Have you come up with a date for the big D? I won't reveat it, but I have. will be it it'll be We're pushing on just like fororma one Updates and upgrades are coming every week So u So yeah, we're forceding ahead. Look, while we're talking Marriages. Can we talk about you and Williams because. Well, you've been with the team since twenty twenty two. Yes coming Spanish Grand Prix is going to be race number ninety six for you for the team. which is going to be more than any other driver in their history How does that make you feel? It doesn't feel It doesn't feel fair. First of all, because we do so many races nowadays U we had something very special coming up For Spain For I believe it's Spain, as I pray over to my shoulders. Managers just absolutely focus on not that Yes. so we are focused on on something Pretty cool. I won't give away too much, but I am surpassing Nijel Nijl Ml for this Milestone And we had him in the garbage in Miami. I think he lives out in Floridora or State has for years Yeah for years I had him around the garage with his family And u He's so nice. He's honestly one of the kindest You really appreciated just us spending time with him, Carlos and me to be fair And it was kind of strange because it's like nowhere We're the ones that want to spend time with you kind of thing But he he was very excited. We got his kids in the car and I always grandkids in the car and Yeah it was it was very cool very cool I can guess what you're going to do in Spain. You're gonna grow a moustache,? ye They's to be quite a bushy one. can I've got about what is it? I've got like I've got a week massage. I can tell you right now, these genetics do not grow massage in a week But I tell you what this does show, Alex, it does show longevity and commitment. from you to the team, I guess both ways actually. He does. You know you think about it that Williams gave me my opportunity back in twenty twenty two to get back onto the former one grid I don't think a lot of teams would have taken that risk You know, considering I did have a tough final year at Red Bow. And then throughout these How many years is that now? I shouldn't know, but five years been able to align, obviously every year, we've 've grown as a team, we've got better and better Clearly this year has been a bit more of a struggle But u being be honest with you, I really do enjoy you know racing for this team. the board members involved in Dorton and everyveryone over in the states and the UK It's a very friendly place and very personable people and I really enjoy their time. Do you think you are now the archetypal Williams driver U I think I was probably part of the transition of us going forward in terms of I spent one year without JV. So it was it was, you know, it back then it was Yost. capapita and we were just starting this this turnover. I think that's really when you know, Dorton We're investing heavily within Williams and each year we've gone through You see the factory now, you see all the buildings and the technology coming through the machines, whatever it may be you see all the personnel coming through. We've increased size massively since when I first joined It is really, really impressive How different is the atmosphere at Williams now compared to twenty two Do you feel there's an inner confidence now that there wasn't there? Yeah, I remember distinctively my first couple of weeks visiting the factory in twenty twenty two and there were so many things where it was like You came from a time at Red Bull where there was clearly a very winning mentality going on. And then when you when you go to Williams It wasn't the people within the factory that you felt were You know weren't good enough. It was purely the culture, the confidence within the team that was almost like they had a very tough few years and Each year, I think at that point there were going backwards. And there was that, you know, just that it's that feeling just like any single human would feel if they were, you know feeling like they were going backwards, it was just a bit of a grind and the team that I see now. What's funny is, you know, we are we are on the back foot this year. There's no secret. you know, we are at the moment there The ninth team We've been the ninth team in twenty twenty two, twenty twenty three That desire be like This is not where we belong. We don't belong here. We belong. back to where we were last year, at least, know this kind of P five Nicle Cus Championship is's there. There's determination to get back as quickly as we can. That's a completely different mindset, if you think about it to what it was like when I was first there. But do you understand why you're where you are now Asine, why we're on the back foot this year? Yeah. Yeah, I do. And if you actually look at it I think we're in this position more for completely different reasons than than we were a few years ago, we're in this position more because We were taking a lot of risks. We want to be thinking outside the box and thinking as far ahead as we can. and I think realistically What ended up happening were we bit off more than we can sh. And so There were some areas within the factory within the team that we We didn't foresee and we created bottlenecks procedural things that just Especially when you change your regulation and there's so much to do. It was a lot easier before when we were just reffining the car and just making a car faster and faster. this was a lot more you know deep into development phases We were late, we pushed things right as late as we could, and that just put us to where we are. So It's not for the same reasons of we're just slow. it was actually more the opposite of we were may be too ambitious given everything that you've just said and the recruitment drive that the team is on at the moment. There's a recent signing that I think sounds really significant. and that's Piers Thinn, who was in charge of the factory at McLaren. You know he won the most recent Constructors Championship in Formula onene and he's now joining Williams in a couple of months time. That stries me as quite a big Quite a big shout from Williams given the reasons you've just stated for the problems this year. It is. if you strip everything away and you just lookk at, what do the top four teams do better than everyone else Theyir turnover speeds. the fact that they're bringing upgrades almost every race. even if it's a small upgrade how quickly they can convert CFD and wind tunnel production into Physical Their turnover is extremely quick and It's one of the big things that separate midfield teams to the top teams. And we realize, you know, I think it's no secret a few years ago we were back on the Excel spreadsheets and whatnot, and we were quite far behind and we've We've got this huge gap to bridge. Bridge to gap, gap to bridge what do going And that's one of the areas that we've noticed consistently and kind of touching on a new regulation change. that's one of the areas where we We saw ourselves most exposed so R And what about extricating yourselves from the hole at the start of the year. We all know that the car was overweight. I mean, overweight. in itself is a function of being late you know, it's being slow because One of the quickest things to gain back time and get back on target is to to not crash test to not refined to to just get parts in the car as quickly as you can and miss out that Weight saving, opportunity phase of the car build. so It all kind of leads a lot of it to efficiency But how much can you recover this year given the processes that you now have back in growth I'mfairly confident we can get back on way by I don't want to say when, but but I think we we've We've got a clear plan. It's you could imagine that iss at one of the very tops priority lists of the col If you're on the weight limit is the performance there. is P five in the Constructors Championship still durable. We have a calculation of where we know our car would be if it was on the weight limit. That's not to say that everyone is on the weight limit. they aren't. but Can you share that noobody would say that Clearly the results aren't where they would be we'd be much more in the points than we are now U the good thing is You've seen maybe the last few races an uptick in performance from the team and You know, there are some upgrades happening on the car, but But a lot of that is the way getting stripped out. And how much of a setback was the groundhold moment that you had in Montreal? Because I mean, it actually costs a lot of money, the amount of damage was done That was an engine gearbox. I've heard like a million dollars being floated around. I mean in the budget count era that's budget cap area is maybe quite overlooked in terms of D didnn't matter too much if you banged a wheel too, lost a front wing or two previously and now especially with Be the first year of this regulation change, how much money that takes to invest in in the car You don't want to be spending it on parts. so Yeah, it's not fun. I don't think the insurance coververs groundhogs so yeet This episode is sponsored by Saly I think one of the most satisfying feelings before any trip is knowing you've already sorted all the boring stuff before you leave home Pport packed, boarding pass downloaded, hotel booked Because once you land somewhere, the last thing you want is another problem to solve, like figuring out how you're going to get online. 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Because Indeed sponsored jobs boost your listing in search results, helping you reach the candidates with the specific skills and experience you actually need. And it works. Sponsored jobs posted directly on Indeed are ninety five percent more likely to report a hire than nonsponsored jobs That's a serious edge when the pressures on Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Less stress, less time more res When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for indeed sponsored jobs. And listeners of this show will get aarventy five dollars sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at indeed dot com slash podcast. Just go to indeed dot com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about indndeed on this podcast Indeed d. com slash podcast. Tes and conditions apply need to hire This is a joob for indeed sponsored jobs Weve discussed the team and how it's getting back on track. Let's discuss You Now Alex, The driver silly season is up and running. We just had Charl L lecler Announcing a new contract at Ferrari Where are you at W Williams? Do you want to stay? mean James Valals has said he wants you and Carlos for the future is are you on the same page I would love to st. I think that for me it's I've been a part of this journey for before JV in fact and u you know, I've been Here feeleing like Maybe it's true not, but I've been a contribution to a lot of the part of the success of the team And I want to see it through. I want to see where we get to, I feel like There's unfinished business where we are in This year it was actually tough many way in many ways even just mentally because you you kind of J're seeing this forward momentum going through and now we're Not that we we're slightly having to reset kind of where our trajectory curve is, but But in a way, yes, you know, there's areas that we realize, okay, well This is going to take a couple more years than than we would like, let's say I see You know, you as much as you you want to immediately get pen to paper. you do want to see where and how the team evolve. And I think for me, it's one hundred percent As I said before, I love I love the board. love I love JV. I think the team is in a great place. So I want to see this see this work James has said twenty thirty is when he wants to. to see Williams challenging for Wor Championships. First of all, do you think that date is doable Yeah, I would have said, you know, we're previous to the end of last year My eyes were kind of twenty eight, twenty nine twenty eight really It was kind of like I thought If we keep going, that's not too long away I think from this year is It's kind of gone okay, you know, it's supps likely more twenty thirty. I think that's realistic. I do I think one thing about JV is he is honest and he doesn't try to set unrealistic targets I do think that twenty thirty is a H't spo to me about it but I do I believe it's a good number y And he has said that you and Carlos is the best driver line up in Formula one. you're now eighteen months into that relationship. How are you robbing along Yeah great. I think we are still in a very similar place to First wee can we spend together. There's no difference in our U openness and It was probably more than anything, we've realized we were very open before in terms of what do we need to do to get this team to go forwards And then this year Being on that back foot, there's been even more focus. I' say there's been a huge amount of driver input back to the factory and between us trying to understand how to make this car go faster. I like the way that We have this partnership. I'm not sure it's that common across teams to have two drivers with experience that understand the picture of what the team needs or what team need to get to go forwards Not to say that young drivers are going just focus on themselves, but it's nice that we can have these weekends even, for example wantce where we can do completely different things across cars focus on different philosophies and see if things can work out Neither car really focusing on pure performance just trying to figure out what the window is of the car and then kind of come back together, right I can imagine there are a lot of midfield teams that wouldn't do that. Do you think that dynamic would change if you were fighting for podiums and wins? What sort of person, I think it would But we're not there yet. So that's a problem to have later on. And Carlos as a teammate Has he made you a better driver? Do you look at his data, his telemetry and think, okay, Yes I do. I'd say that I look at it. I don't u I think you would say the same same to me. there's nothing that I see that's You know, you feel like you cannot do or whatever. I we kind of look at each other. We bounce off each other I think he's taken these new regulations well as well. So it's been helpful for me to see his data Uh What does he do especially well in a racing car I would say that his strongest asset is actually his feedback and his communication It's actually the the Aica that he does that's That's very good. I think he's u He speaks well, he has great insight. He has an engineering brain on him I think really important. Are you quite similar We are similar For sure. I think that both attack or we go into a weekend prepare for weekends in a very similar way. Maybe that's also why we get on well. Yeah. Well, beginning of next year You'll be starting your one hundred and fiftieth Grand Prix Seems a lot, doesn't it? I know I always think of it like I'm I'm thirty now. I turn thirty in between China and Japan. Your fourth decade, wow. Yeah A thirty is crazy Yeah, because if you I think I'm way over the average age now. Yeah, you're an old boy now. Although Jackie Stewart would tell you, you are absolutely at your prime at thirty as a driver. And actually JV says the same thing Glad Ccko in Valti join the grid together change up a bit. No way around a bit longer. Otherwise it would Iand know we need you.. Everyednesday, everyvery Wednesday. It' helps my ego Can we explore How you think you've changed as a driver over the last eight years I think if I split it between the two, so if I go just purely driver or technique wise, my default, my Vivor default is the same. So I drive the same way. I have the same technique same style U you faster now I've noticed my weaknesses more, so I know the cornnerers there I need to work on. There's obviously a consistent pattern that you kind of go through U I know the tyres much better. I know how to manage the tyres and race much, much better I know when to push. I think that's the biggest difference between when you start to where I am now is that balance of saving, saving and then When you start picking up that pace and start going for it On a technical level, I understand the cars better clearly and I pretty much know how to And I know all the things we can do to the And then in terms of a personable level I'd say there's still the racing side which is mostly the area that I think I've become better at is the being that team person that point of contact of moving the team or explaining to the team what I needed from them from the car What do we need to go back to the factory and work on these what are these specific areas that we need to focus on haaving better communication basically and knowing Who I need to speak to get what I want from the car from the team And then there's the outside kind of non racing side, but it still still applies as me as a human is I'm more confident now. more confident and comfortable in my own skin as well I'm not trying to be S I'm not. and and more relaxed as well in weekends Do you think you being thrust into that team leadership role, you know, when you had Logan Serggeant, when you had Nicholas Latifi as your teammate Were you ready for that? And Is that what helped create? the person that you've just described U I think it definitely was a part of it. I think it was more an element of maturity as well thinkink that There's a big difference mentally that changes when you are driving to survive and then driving to not survive basically. And the attitude is self confidence within you within you that's kind of like, I'm okay. I don't need it's not all about me. And it's kind of what I was saying before around, you know having that two experienced drivers in the midfield And it's more about what do we need as a team to go forward? How do we get away from these P twelves and P thirteen s and how do we start moving into the points? There's a, I guess, a human reaction towards I belong here and I don't need to prove myself. And so You do far more big picture and that kind of narrow minded approach of in it for myself goes away. So Um that's that's also the biggest difference. So when you were fininishing in the points in what seven of the opening eight races last year. That was Pek Alex. that was it was Pek Alex for sure, in many ways Things were clicking and You're just relaxed. I think there there's an element of Goods You're just in that rhythm It's hard to explain, but there's none of this kind of like Got gott toa do this Even it sounds really silly, but I this is maybe going a little bit off subject, but You know how different it is to to be able to go into Q one and It doesn't have to be the perfect lap to get through You can play around with your tools, you can play around with the front wing, you can play around with your outlap because it doesn't really matter You're still going to go through the mentality of I can't adjust too much and I need to make sure my outlap's perfect. It's a bit of a weird mentality, but sometometimes harder to take risks when you're on the back foot. when you know the car's not good enough for Q two. So It is a shift in many ways and I think it just it makes you more relaxed. you know you've got a good car b. And do you think you would deal with team like Red Bull differently now. The Alex, the version of you now would deal with that opportunity differently now You for sure yeah. Yeah, yeah. I mean, like deal with helpalth I look at myself Yeah, yeah I look at myself back when I was in Red Bull to where I am now, and I think I'm I am very, very different. still have kind of my core is still the same, but how I can deal with things and The biggest thing is get myself out of things You know, if I'm in a tight spot or whatever and things aren't clicking, how do I get myself out of them? That's the biggest thing. when I was at Red Ball, I maturity and the lack of fundamental engineering knowledge, it was hard to know why it was difficult What do you No now that you wish you had known in twenty nineteen when you started at fora one. It's so technically boring There are things you can do with car like things which I probably I didn't understand back then, but The way you can set up the car and play around with it There's a lot you can do basically. And I think that sometimes I was giving the exact feedback that I should have been giving because Back then it was just It's doing this, it's doing that I wasn't in the detail of understanding why. I think some drivers don't like that though. So to explain, it's like some drivers are just quick. There's not really a thought behind it. They just drive anything they get given. That's great and that's actually a nice thing to add. If I can understand what makes the car clicking Why is it doing that? If I can understand that I can also get that laptime out of it. It's almost like, okay, that's I need to understand the language of the car once I get that thenen I can unlock it And so Back then at Red Bull, I would say I was far from that But that's experience. that surely every young driver is the same, E Max Verstappen, the twenty sixteen version of Max Verstappen surely was the same exactly that. You can even say, you sit with Kimy this year, there's that learning part of it where you're just driving. and I think as a mentality, you're kind of just reacting to whatever you get, you have underneath you. onnce you start going away from reacting to being proactive and Be able to say, I want the car to do this, I need this rather than this is what we've got you know, Can you drive around these issues or these issues, you gain that turn This episode is brought to you by Bitefender, exclusive cybersecurity partner of Scuderia Ferrari HP In cybersecurity and Formula One, every millisecond counts Only the most advanced cars and dedicated teamwork win races on the track. And only the most advanced security technology and elite specialists have the power to prevent, defend and stop cyber attacks Technology makes all the difference in who has a clear advantage, where Bitefender is renowned for driving leading edge innovation Bitender supports Ferrari in strengthening its cybersecurity posture They improve the cybersecurity team's operations and support resilient performance across a large and complex global environment It's a partnership built on trust, a shared confidence in the technology, the expertise, and the ability to respond effectively as the threat landscape evolves So join the millions of consumers and businesses that trust Bitdefender to protect their digital worlds Visit bititdefender. com to learn more about how Bitdefender supports Ferrari through cybersecurity built on trust and how you can make your digital life safer This episode is sponsored by Indeed There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes of this show, booking guests across time zones, tight turnar edits, and constant time management. And when things get chaotic, you realize pretty quickly how important it is to have the right person on your team. If I had to hire someone tomorrow, I wouldn't just want a good editor. I'd want someone who understands pace in long form interviews work fast under pressure. And in moments like that you think This is a job for sponsored jobs. Because Indeed sponsored jobs boost your listing in search results, helping you reach the candidates with the specific skills and experience you actually need. And it works. Sponsored jobs posted directly on Indeed are ninety five percent more likely to report a hire than nons sponsored jobs That's a serious edge when the pressures on Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Less stress, less time. more results. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for indeed sponsored jobs. And listeners of this show will get a seventy five dollars sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at indeed d. com slash podcast. Just go to indndeed. com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about indndeed on this podcast. Indeed d. com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply need to hire This is a job for indeed sponsored jobs I think there are three phases to an F one driver just from years of observing. O is the reacting phase that you talk about when you first come in, you just come in and do it And you're often very successful at that because you don't overthink it Then you've been around phase two is you've been around for a while, suddenly you realize the privileged position you're in and you start to one driver start to overthink it and sometimes it doesn't come so easy. And then you get into phase three which I feel way you are where suddenly you understand it all now and there's less pressure and then then it ramps up again so you sort of bookeended by high performances with a Sightly but you're onto something that I think every driver, if you look at it, they've kind of gone through that that phase, you look at even like a Maxi George a child's now, a lander now. and It's hard to see it from the outside But I really do believe Everyone's just getting better and better It might not be pure lap time and pure driving, but if you understand the cars more you understand the tyres more, you understand the tracks more you understand how these things work more You become faster and faster. What about incremental gains driving perspective, right? You've talked about all the tools you have in the car How hard do you think about things that you can do. and something I real it's a real real balance. kind of so so like Nicola Rosbero, twenty sixteen didn't paint his helmet because he was going to save eighty grams of weight high up in the car. He gave up cycling because he wanted to get rid of the leg muscle to save weight. You know, that's the sort of I think Niica was extremees. But do you think constantly about where you can make gaines like that Or are you at the point now I've got nothing more in that department. This is me I have a I think every driver will have this. I have a is a relentless desire to be better And I think A lot of drivers in different ways are motivated by Multiple ways. I think I saw Jensen, you did a photogph with Jensen and talking about I think every driver has a level of insecurity. that drives them forward that becausecause you don't feel like, you know Are you the best Can you be the best I will do everything to be the best. And you go through and you look at every single part of you. to improve. For me, recently in the last two years, a lot of that's been I feel better driving a lot of different things. L I think Max does that naturally driving GT three cards and whatnot For me, a lot of it is spent driving different cars. I did some rallying up in Seattle the other day driving random cars around Sonoma going them around in go carts just doing everything, feeling like justust driving and getting that feeling is really important The other side of it though is kind of With balance because it really is balance is overthinking and just driving. Like I think a lot of it is There's all these things you can focus on and do to try to improve. But then once you get to the raceetrack itself You need to disconnect and just kind of be in that that quiet and just, you know, this is, this is it now you've done all that prep work, you've done all the orth the whatever you feel like you need to do. And once you're there, it's just is to find details of driving the car as quickly as you can Damon Hill says the best race he ever drove. Suzuka ninety four He wasn't thinking it was just happening. Yeah It's the sweet spot. It's the sweet spot. and I'll say this. I think that This year it's been much harder this to be in that area mentally because it so much more going on to the cars this year than they were like you can't disengage in the way that you want to You have been taught at an early age to just drive corners as qu as you can, but there's a layer this year that's different. And I'm not saying this in a bad way. I'm not trying to say the regulations were unique buds. can do different things which you never did before to go faster So there's this thing in the back, which is the battery you can manipulate and It's interesting because just driving being in that quiet space can sometimes be efficient And so for me, especially, a lot of work in a simulator is spent driving try to make that bit feel Cient. so that it's not dominating your thoughts as you're going around the lap And that will come with experience. the more exactly that. Like even from Melbourne to now your mind quietens down a lot at least for me. And I think I'm excited to compare, for example, I just did a sim prep for Monaco in the net.