Williams F1 team has announced that Alex Albon will take George Russell’s seat as Nicholas Latifi remains for 2022 season.
This marks an F1 return for Albon who has been Red Bull’s test and reserve driver for 2021.
The 25-year-old made F1 debut in 2019 racing for Toro Rosso and later upgraded to Red Bull for 2020 taking two podiums. However, Red Bull replaced him with Sergio Perez for 2021.
Nicholas Latifi on the other hand will be remaining at Williams for the third season. He scored his maiden points in Hungary after finishing seventh and scored more in the Belgian GP after finishing ninth in the rain shortened race.
Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi were previously teammates back in 2018 at DAMS in Formula 2.
“I am really excited and looking forward to returning to a Formula 1 race seat in 2022,” said Albon.
“When you take a year out of F1 it’s never certain you will make a return so I’m extremely thankful to Red Bull and Williams for believing in me and helping me on my journey back to the grid.
“It’s also been great to see all the progress Williams have been making as a team this year and I look forward to helping them continue that journey in 2022.
“My focus now returns to my test and reserve driver role at Red Bull and helping the team fight for this year’s world championship.”
Latifi joined Williams back in 2019 as a test driver and in 2020 upgraded to race driver for the team.
“I’m excited to be continuing with Williams for another year; partly because of F1’s new technical regulations, but also because the team is moving in a more competitive direction with new owners, management and people on the technical side,” he said.
“I’ve felt at home here since the day I arrived, and I think I’m in the right place to continue with my positive trajectory. The aim is to continue making little improvements so we can all take advantage of the opportunity we have next year.
“I’m super excited to work with next year’s car and it’s like a fresh start for everybody. I feel privileged to be part of that change.”
