Commitments off the track made life difficult for Alexander Albon in 2025—teams are careful not to overburden their drivers with them
These days, the job of a Formula 1 driver involves much more than just driving a car. Especially on race weekends, many drivers have numerous appointments with the media, partners, and sponsors in addition to their on-track activities.
On the podcast *The Fast And The Curious*, Williams driver Alexander Albon has now openly admitted that he often feels “totally drained,” “especially when we travel to our races in America, because there’s more demand on us there—whether it’s from partners, content, or whatever,” he reports.
“It just saps my energy,” Albon admits, explaining: “That’s why I place much more importance on taking a step back [between races], taking time for myself, and maybe spending a night or two at home before I fly out again or whatever.”
For example, he admits that he felt “I was pretty burned out last year.” The end of the season, in particular, is a challenge for many drivers. It could be an issue again this year.
A grueling schedule at the end of the 2026 season
If the two Grands Prix in Qatar and Abu Dhabi take place as planned, the 2026 season will end with nine races in eleven weeks. Between the race in Baku in late September and the finale in Abu Dhabi in early December, there would be only two free weekends.
Because the Bahrain Grand Prix in Sepang was squeezed into the calendar in October, the season would also end with three overseas triple-headers: Baku–Sepang–Singapore, Austin–Mexico City–Brazil, and Las Vegas–Qatar–Abu Dhabi.
Mercedes also recently emphasized how important it is, in this context, not to overburden the drivers with off-track activities. For example, in the case of Kimi Antonelli, they took explicit care not to overwhelm him during his first Formula 1 season in 2025.
“That’s why we made sure he wasn’t overburdened—neither by marketing commitments nor by PR activities at the track or at other events,” deputy team principal Bradley Lord recently revealed.
“We often tell the drivers, ‘Look, we can’t make you any faster with these things, but if we handle them the wrong way, we can definitely slow you down,’” Lord said.