Williams is set to request Red Bull to let Alex Albon join before the end of the season.
Albon will be joining Williams next season to replace the Mercedes-bound George Russell. Currently, however, he is a Red Bull reserve driver, and according to his contract, he will be one till January.
Due to this, he will still technically be a Red Bull employee until the turn of the year, even though the season ends in December. Williams is thus set to request Red Bull to let Albon join before the end of the season, so that they can prepare for the next season early.
As quoted by RaceFans, Williams CEO Jost Capito said, “The contract, of course, starts in January.
“But I think we will talk to Red Bull and say what can we [do], does he stop working for you after the last race? Because he does a lot of sim race preparation. They (stop) after the last race, and then can (he) get involved with us?”
No connection
Albon moving to Williams, a team associated with Red Bull’s rivals Mercedes, was quite the surprise when it was announced. To add to this, the Thai driver stated that he will continue to carry their branding on his helmet.
Capito stated that once he joins their team, he will no longer have any connections, save for his personal sponsor Red Bull Thailand on the aforementioned helmet.
“We always say that he is a full Williams driver with no contract with Red Bull,” Capito said.
“What he has is Red Bull Thailand, this is his personal sponsor involved through his career. He has the right to have personal sponsors so he will keep Red Bull as a personal sponsor. But it’s not a Red Bull-Williams connection,” he concluded.
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