The Thai-born British driver, who has been with Williams since 2022, expressed his confidence in the former F1 champions on Wednesday, announcing that he will continue racing for them in the next era of engines starting in 2026.
“It ended up being a matter of which team I believed would be the best for me, and that team was Williams,” said the 28-year-old driver, who had been linked to Red Bull and Mercedes, during a press conference at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
“For me, it was just a matter of ‘making it happen, signing the contract’ and then focusing on building the team’s history and looking towards the future,” he added.
“I have faith in the project. I have faith in James and the board,” emphasized Albon. “So, I believe Williams has the potential to achieve more than we are currently showing.”
“There are significant changes happening behind the scenes at the team. It will take some time for these changes to be fully reflected,” Albon stated.
Vowles informed the press that Albon had committed the best years of his career to the Mercedes team and revealed that the driver had been highly sought after by several people.
Williams started the season at a disadvantage, without a spare chassis, which became an issue when Albon had an accident during practice for the Australian Grand Prix and had to use his teammate’s car in the race.
Albon stated that Vowles is establishing a solid foundation at Williams and that the team’s systems should be fully optimized by 2026.
“It’s James’s vision and experience,” he explained in response to the “seismic” comment. “Outdated procedures and software… considering our current performance, still fighting for points, still able to compete where we are, a big part of that is due to the people we have.”
“However, there is still work to be done on the fundamental aspects of the team, and you can already see many of these changes happening. There is a significant change… I see it, I am part of it, and I believe in it,” he added.
Vowles mentioned that Williams now has over 1,000 employees, a substantial increase from the 700 when he joined the team, and they are still in the hiring process.
“This is a significant change,” the boss commented. “The department responsible for car production has undergone a major design overhaul. Different leaders and structures are also being implemented.”
“We haven’t started with many people yet, but we have recruited highly talented individuals from Red Bull and Ferrari… this will allow us to bring excellence to the organization,” he concluded. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin)
