Alex Albon has indicated that Williams will introduce minimal upgrades to its FW47 car to avoid compromising the team’s chances under Formula 1’s new regulations in 2026.
Williams has been candid about its ongoing restructuring being tailored towards guiding the side back towards the sharp end under the next rules period beginning next season.
A promising pre-season which culminated in new signing Carlos Sainz topping the testing timesheets, though, has heightened the expectation surrounding Williams in 2025.
Indeed, McLaren boss Andrea Stella has even touted that the Grove-based squad could emerge as a threat to the leading pack, a claim that Sainz has since quashed.
But despite the promising base Williams appears to have built this season, Albon has insisted that it won’t tempt it to devote more resources to developing its 2025 machine.
Asked whether he expects more updates to arrive compared to 2024, Albon told select media including Motorsport Week in Bahrain: “We’ll have to wait and see.
“I think the big focus is on next year.
“The more time you take doing updates and upgrades for this year, you’re going to jeopardise next year. You’re going to reduce the personnel that you can spend on that car.
“The aim for us is to be a top team and to do that, but we’re not going to spend too much time focussing on this year’s car.”
Williams ‘in a much better position’ compared to 2024
Williams has at least avoided the initial setbacks that hamstrung it 12 months ago when a late car build and overweight parts resigned the side to a challenging season.
Albon has expressed that Williams is in a more stable position this time around with an FW47 challenger that has addressed the limitations that blighted its predecessor.
“I think we know the areas we need to work on,” the Anglo-Thai driver elaborated.
“I think there’s just some new things, new software, new areas to focus on which has changed a little bit the balance of the car.
“As you can see, I think, just as a general feeling, the car’s in a much better position than last year. There are some areas where we’re just getting caught up and nothing we can’t fix.
“We made some changes last night to today which has made a step. It hasn’t solved everything completely so there’s still some work to do.
“But so far, yeah, we’re in a reasonable place.”
READ MORE – Why Alex Albon insists ‘now is the right time’ for Williams to ‘sacrifice’ an F1 season
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