Alex Albon has expressed his readiness to face temporary difficulties at Williams as the team pursues its long-term goal of returning to the front of Formula 1. Last season, Williams experienced a morale-boosting improvement in competitiveness, with Albon leading the team to seventh place in the Constructors’ Championship.
However, this season, the Grove-based squad has struggled with an overweight FW46 car, resulting in a drop to ninth place with only four points from the first 14 rounds. Nevertheless, Williams boss James Vowles remains unfazed by these setbacks, citing the extensive work being done behind the scenes to spark a turnaround.
Williams has successfully secured Carlos Sainz’s services for 2025, beating both Alpine and Sauber/Audi to the signing. Vowles also revealed that he has hired nearly 250 people during his tenure. Albon, who has a long-term contract with the team, supports Williams’ decision to focus primarily on preparing for the 2026 regulation reset.
When asked about the challenge of scoring points as other teams develop their cars this season, Albon acknowledged the difficulty, saying, “It is, and we can observe how other teams are upgrading. For instance, RB and Haas. But I’m still satisfied with our progress and our areas of focus.”
He added, “Realistically, the top teams have a solid foundation. This means that even if they start off weak, they always manage to come back strong. They have the resources and the right personnel to address any weaknesses in their cars. So, while we may start off in a decent position in 2026, if we don’t have a strong foundation, we won’t be able to build upon it.”
Albon emphasized the importance of the process they are implementing at Williams, acknowledging that it may involve some short-term challenges but expressing his acceptance of them.
Williams has chosen to revamp its entire car design during the winter months in an effort to create a more well-rounded package compared to its previous model. However, despite these significant changes, Albon has disclosed that certain limitations from the FW45 still persist in this season’s car. He explained that while the differences are less pronounced, there are still similarities between last year’s car and the current one. The team has taken into account feedback from the previous year and identified some parallels with this year’s car. Although the extremes have been reduced, they are still present. Albon believes that the situation has improved, particularly in low-speed corners where the team struggled last year. Monaco serves as a good example of this progress. However, there are still certain tracks where two or three corners result in a significant loss of lap time for the team.
Photo from Alex Albon Instagram
